A Long Walk
by OuijiBoardofDeath
Summary: A young trainer named Arden, sadled with a lame squirtle when he wanted a charmander, is on a journey through the Kanto reigion. Faced with an incompetant team and his own inadequacies, can he manage to make something of himself?
1. Route 1

Arden reclined beneath a tree, beside a lush field of tall grass and bushes, rolling a pokeball between his hands. A stylized rendering of a water drop adorned the front of it. It was his first pokemon. A squirtle. He hadn't had it for a quarter of an hour, yet, and already he was feeling pessimistic about it.

He'd wanted a charmander. Squirtle was all the professor had left.

Arden sighed and put the pokeball in his coat pocket. Idly, he watched the clouds drift past overhead, and tried to come up with a nickname for his new companion. "Shelly?" he ventured, and then shook his head. "No, that's ridiculous. He won't want to be called Shelly and I'll feel stupid calling him Shelly… Reginald? …erm. No, no. That's… No…"

He frowned and, for a moment, considered letting the pokemon out of his ball so it could help him find a name. His thought, however, was broken off prematurely by a rustling sound from nearby. A rattata lurched out from a briar patch, startling the boy. It bared its teeth at him and hissed. Quickly, Arden reached into his pocket, and threw his squirtle's ball toward it.

"Shelly, go!" he screamed. Yup. Definitely felt silly. Mentally, he crossed the name off his list of possible nicknames for his pokemon.

The ball flew toward the rattata, striking it firmly in the head before releasing the squirtle. The rattata staggered sideways and Arden winced, feeling a little ashamed of himself. "Sorry," he said to it. "I… I didn't know that would happen… Uh, Squirtle—tackle!"

The squirtle threw itself toward the rattata, only to stumble and fall flat on its face with a half-hearted cry of "squirt!" Arden winced again. The rattata looked up from the squirtle to him, puzzlement startlingly evident on its face. It turned away and, at a leisurely pace, started into the forest.

"Hey, come back!" Arden yelled, standing. "We're going to battle you! Just wait a sec!"

The rattata squeezed under a bush and was gone. Arden stood, staring after it, feeling uniquely offended. His squirtle had managed to get back on its feet and—unaware of what had transpired whilst it had its face in the dirt—looked around for its foe. "Its gone," Arden told the squirtle.

"Squirt," said the pokemon. Arden didn't know what that meant, but the squirtle looked pleased with itself.

"Great," mumbled Arden to himself, running a hand through his dark blond hair. "I didn't just get the clumsiest pokemon in Kanto, I also got the most arrogant."

The squirtle heard him and puffed out its chest in umbrage. It jabbered at him, swinging its stubby arms about.

"You _are_ clumsy," Arden said pointedly. "You fell down and no one pushed you. That was all you."

"Squirtle! Squirt!" yelled the pokemon. It gestured to its left leg which, Arden now saw, had a slight deformation.

"Oh," said Arden, flushing. "You're a gimp." The squirtle nodded. "So, you landed on that leg when I let you out, and that made you lose your balance." It nodded again. "…how are you supposed to fight?"

The squirtle jabbered on again, and Arden waved it silent. "Look, I can't understand you," he said grimly. "Just… Do you think you can fight with that leg, Gimpy?"

The squirtle nodded.

"Then, I guess I'll trust you," sighed Arden. "And if you can't… We'll start a bed and breakfast, or something, and you can run the check-in counter, and I will be the chef. We'll serve blueberry waffles—they'll be our specialty. We'll set up just north of a tiny town, and people will talk about our blueberry waffles in town, and they'll come up and have breakfast there every Sunday, as a special treat…"

The squirtle titled his head to one side.

Arden cleared his throat. "Sorry," he said. "Habit. …I need a name for you."

"Squirtle."

"Nah, I mean, and actual name-name," responded Arden, putting his hand to his chin. "…you don't want to be called Reginald, do you?" The squirtle shook his head. "I thought not. Peter? …no? Okay… Hm…" He paused. "Maybe something that describes you? Blue? Bluey? Old Bluebell?"

The squirtle, Arden noted, was looking progressively more distressed about the naming.

"Oh! Oh, I know!" shouted Arden, snapping his fingers. "Gimpy!"

The squirtle sighed. It was as good as he would get, he supposed.

"Come on, Gimpy," said Arden, starting along. "Let's see if we can't find that rattata. He gave us the shaft, and I don't like that."

Gimpy limped after him, murmuring his protest. Arden glanced back and stopped. "Oh, right," he said, chagrined. "The leg. Right."

He stooped to pick up the squirtle. "There we are," Arden said. "That way, I don't have to put you back in your pokeball, and chance that you'll fall down again when I send you out."

It was a good solution, Gimpy supposed.

They continued on through the field. Arden trudged his way through the tall grass, startling a pidgey which promptly flew at him, beating its wings in his face. It flew off leaving Arden feeling mildly abused, and monumentally more pessimistic. "Why didn't you fight it?" Arden asked Gimpy. "I thought that's why I was given a pokemon before I left town—so wild ones wouldn't beat me up." Gimpy shrugged.

Arden sighed. "This is going to be a long walk," he said.


	2. Route 1 II

"You know what, Gimpy?" asked Arden as he rested on a small ledge, with his feet dangling down. To his back, the outskirts of Viridian City were visible. "I'm not even from here. I'm from Goldenrod City."

Gimpy felt rather flattered that the boy should travel so far, and just to choose _him_ for a partner.

"But the pokemon lab in Johto was out of pokemon," Arden said glumly. "So I came here."

Gimpy flattened a little, but still felt flattered that Arden chose him.

Arden sighed. "I wanted a charmander," the boy told his pokemon. "But it was already gone. So was the professor's bulbasaur."

Gimpy was feeling much less than flattered.

Arden stood. "Well, I suppose we should head into town," he said, picking up the squirtle. "I think there's a gym there."

The squirtle looked at his trainer flatly. He couldn't beat a gym leader's pokemon yet—he hadn't won a single battle in his life. Gimpy began to voice his objection, but Arden shushed him. "Look! A wild pokemon!" said the boy quietly. He pointed to a patch of grass bellow the ledge, which was shaking slightly. The pair waited with bated breath, watching the grass and, after a moment, two rattata appeared there.

Arden took in a breath sharply. "Okay, Gimpy!" he said. "It's your time to shine! Go get 'em!"

The new trainer set his pokemon on the ground. Gimpy limped towards the cliff and, slowly, began a careful descent down it. Grabbing a lock of his own hair in his hand, Arden shook his head vigorously. "No, no! Faster! It'll get away!" he sobbed. He ran up to the ledge and grabbed the squirtle. "Here, let me help you!"

Arden meant to slide down the ledge, land in front of the wild pokemon and maybe intimidate them a bit. However, what he ended up down was sliding, tripping, tumbling in a ball with Gimpy, giving them both stinging abrasions, and falling flat on his face in front of the rattatas, his stunned pokemon sprawled out on top of his head. The wild pokemon squeaked at each other—a sound which sounded to Arden suspiciously like mocking laughter—then, they turned and bounded back into the grass.

Groaning, Arden sat up and pulled Gimpy into his lap. "Great," he murmured, crest-fallen. "Now not only are the pokemon laughing at us, they're bringing friends with them to laugh at us… Grah! I _hate_ this region!"

Gimpy tilted his head to one side and, timidly, patted the boy's shoulder, but Arden shrugged him off. Arden stood and, morosely, started back up the ledge. Grimly and silently, the pair made their way toward Viridian city. Arden trudged through a patch of grass, staring dismally ahead. With a flutter, a flock of pidgey flew up in front of him, startling him out of his stupor.

"Gah!" he screamed and fell backwards, heart pounding, and dropped Gimpy hard on the ground.

"Squirtle!" groaned Gimpy, laying on his back in the grass. A fainting cooing from beneath him enticed him to roll quickly onto his feet.

Arden leaned over to look. "Gimpy! I can't believe it!" he exclaimed. "You fell on a pidgey! Look at that—! It's out cold!"

The squirtle rubbed the back of his head.

"No, it's a good thing!" said Arden, picking up the pokemon and spinning him around. "It's the first good thing that's happened since I got to this stupid place! You KO'd another pokemon! …with your butt! That's good! That's good."

Gimpy wasn't convinced, but he didn't object. He felt it wouldn't have made a difference anyway.


	3. Viridian City

Arden looked down at the unconscious pidgey. "Should I… throw a pokeball at it?" he asked his squirtle. The tiny turtle pokemon shrugged.

The boy bit his lip and knelt down. "Well, we can't just leave it here, right?" he said. "I mean… it's so pathetic. What if those mean rattata come back and hurt it?"

Gimpy mumbled and shrugged again.

"You know what, Gimpy? You're not a very good conversationalist," said Arden. "I have absolutely no idea what you mean at any point. Jeez! This isn't at all like I thought it'd be. Back in Goldenrod, I always saw these trainers with their pokemon, and they understood them perfectly, and their pokemon didn't have to be carried from place to place, and they never had to knock out other pokemon by falling on them!"

Gimpy hung his head slightly. "Squirt," he mumbled, sitting down glumly.

Arden frowned. After a moment he said, "Sorry. I… I'm just a little tired. It's been kinda hard. Sorry…"

He turned back to the pidgey. "Well," sighed Arden. "I guess the Pokemon Centre isn't too far away. Maybe I can just take it there, so they can make it better. I mean, it's so pathetic. I'd feel sort of like I was cheating if I caught it like this."

He scooped up the bird pokemon, which was making a dazed moaning sound. "Squirt!" said Gimpy, tugging at Arden's pant leg.

"Oh, right," said Arden. "You need to be carried, too, don't you? Nn—fine."

He picked up the lame pokemon and, awkwardly, tried to move the pair in his arms into a comfortable position. "Hey, Gimp—put your head down, or something," he said. "I can't see!"

Slowly, the young trainer started off. Somehow, he managed to get back up the ledge, carrying the cumbersome pokemon. It was quite some time before he made it to the Pokemon Centre, taking his steps carefully and slowly. The door of the Center was automatic and it opened before him—a fact he was very grateful for.

"Welcome to the Viridian City Pokemon Center!" exclaimed a chipper woman behind the counter. Her eyes widened at the state of the boy and the pokemon in his arms. "Oh, my! Those poor things--! Where are their pokeballs?"

"Uh, one of them's wild," said Arden, trying to set his squirtle down. He ended up dropping the pokemon unceremoniously. Gimpy objected angrily and righted himself. "That's really why I came here. It got hurt pretty bad, and I didn't want to just leave it out there."

"Well, that's very kind of you," said the woman, biting her lip. She didn't want to say anything about his treatment of the squirtle. It wasn't any of her business.

"Yeah, so—here it is," he said, holding out the pidgey to her. The pidgey half-opened its eyes and made a confused cooing sound.

"Oh my," said the woman. "Well, without a pokeball, I can't really put it in my machine here… But I've got some medicine that might help it."

She bent down behind the counter and, after a moment of searching, straightened up, a spray bottle in her hand. She sprayed the pidgey and, after a moment, it seemed to get better. It opened its eyes fully and, cooing, sat up.

The pidgey looked around slowly and flapped it's wings.

"Well, that's a relief," said Arden. "I guess I'll be going then. I'm going to go challenge this city's gym."

"Oh, our gym leader's out," said the woman. "Sorry. You might try Pewter city, to the north, though."

Arden frowned. "You mean I have to do more walking? What a bummer!"

"Squirt!" yelled Gimpy, waving his little arms. He didn't like walking, either.

The pidgey cooed and flapped its wings again. It hopped off the counter and promptly fell right on its face. "Is… that supposed to happen?" asked Arden.

The woman shook her head. "No, I don't think so," she said, leaning over the counter. "What did you say happened to it?"

"Uh… my squirtle, um… he knocked him out," said Arden, rubbing the back of his head.

"You should have been more careful," said the woman. The pidgey was flapping his wings on the floor, looking all about and cooing. "I think you might have given the poor dear a concussion!"

"Oh," said Arden. "That doesn't sound too good."

"You can't return it to the wild like that," she told him, frowning. "It's inhumane."

"So, what do I—oh," said Arden. He felt at the empty pokeballs on his belt. "You mean I should catch it, right?" She nodded.

Arden sighed. Of course. Another useless pokemon. That was all he needed. "Right," he said, crestfallen. He couldn't put the poor, confused Pidgey out in the fields like this. He threw one of his pokeballs at it. With a flash, it captured the bird pokemon and, almost immediately, stopped moving. "Right…"

"Squirtle!" said Gimpy, throwing his little hands up in the air. It was hard to tell if he was excited at having a team mate, or upset.

"Come on, Gimp," said Arden, picking him up. "We should get going so we can be at Pewter City by sundown." He turned to the woman. "Thank you, ma'am. Have a good day."

"You, too," said the woman chipperly. "Don't be a stranger!"


	4. Route 2

"Huh, so, I guess that big gatehouse over there connects to Viridian forest?" asked Arden to Gimpy as they approached it. He glanced at a smaller side road branching off in another direction. "What do you reckon's down that way?"

"Squirt. Squirtle," replied the pokemon shrugging.

"I have to tell you, that means absolutely nothing to me," Arden said.

"Hello youngster!" shouted an elderly man standing at the edge of the path.

"Uh, hi," answered Arden warily.

"You're new as a trainer, huh?" asked the old man.

"Yeah, I guess," said Arden. In an undertone he added to Gimpy, "Who is this guy?"

"Want me to show you how to catch pokemon?" asked the old man. He seemed excited about the prospect.

"No, that's okay," said Arden, now feeling rather alarmed. "I think I've got a pretty good idea how it's done. Er, thanks for the offer, though—"

"Oh, come on!" said the old man, coming forward. He grabbed a hold on Arden's upper arm. His grip was surprisingly strong for such an old man. "Here, I'll show you how it's done!"

"You're hurting me," said Arden. He tried to pull away but couldn't. The old man started pulling him toward a patch of tall grass. "My mother warned me this would happen if I went abroad," said the boy to his squirtle. "I should have listened…"

"Look there!" said the old man, pointing one bony finger at a clump of grass that was moving. A weedle inched its way out of it leisurely. "A pokemon! Now, you reach into your pack and find a pokeball…"

"Aren't those poisonous?" said Arden. "I mean, shouldn't you weaken it first? So that it doesn't kill us with its poison?"

"Squirtle squirt!" Gimpy chimed in, in agreement.

"Don't be a pansy!" yelled the old man into Arden's ear. His manner calm again, he continued, "Now, we throw the ball!"

And he threw it. It opened up in the air next to the weedle, enveloping it in a red light, before closing again, sucking the pokemon into it. The ball fell to the ground a wiggled a few times before making a beeping sound. The old man relinquished his grasp on Arden's arm and picked up the pokeball. "And that's how you catch a pokemon! Normally, though, you'd weaken it first."

"Yeah, I know that," said Arden. "I told you I knew that, but then—"

"Have a good day, youngster!" said the man, walking off.

"Squuuuuirtle," mumbled Gimpy, making a twirling motion at his temple with one stubby finger. Arden bit his lip and nodded, and they continued on their way.

"Y'know, I think I have a name for that pidgey you concussed," said Arden as they walked down the path toward the gatehouse.

"Squirt?" asked the pokemon, half-interested.

"Yeah," said Arden, assuming it was the squirtle equivalent of a 'what?' "I'm going to call him Brain Damage. Because he has brain damage. I mean, I know it's a long name, but the only shorter one I could think of was 'Stupid'. And, well, that wouldn't be any good on his self esteem. I feel guilty enough for him as it is. So Brain Damage. Brain for short, maybe."

"Squirt," said the squirtle, now seeming entirely disinterested.

Arden frowned as they reached the gatehouse. "Never mind then," he mumbled. "I don't know why I try to talk to you…"

He pushed open the door and entered the gatehouse. Just an empty building with a door at the far end. Arden wasn't sure what he was expecting, but this… Seemed so unnecessary. A few people were walking around inside, but Arden continued on without talking to any of them, or even making eye contact. He wasn't about to have another episode like he'd had with that old man. "People in Kanto are weird," he mumbled to Gimpy as they exited the building.

Viridian forest spread out before him, full of lush grass and enormous trees. A trail of short grass, worn down by hundreds of feet of hundreds of travellers. Maybe over hundreds of years, but Arden wasn't sure. He didn't have any idea for how long people in the Kanto region had been trudging through this forest. He'd gone to school, but they'd just talked about pokemon and pokemon training and pokemon battling and pokemon collecting. No history or anything. His instructors had told him he'd pick _that_ up as he went along. He noticed a young boy sitting at the base of a tree in front of him, and chanced an interaction.

"Hey," he said. "Do you know which way I go to get to Pewter city?"

The boy replied in a nasal voice, "There are poisonous pokemon in this forest. You should have some antidotes with you."

"Ah, okay," said Arden, raising one eyebrow. "Thanks. I'll, uh, take that under advisement… Now, about Pewter city?"

"My pokemon fainted because it was poisoned and I didn't have any antidote," stated the boy.

"Sorry to hear that," said Arden. He pointed to one path. "Does that lead to Pewter city?"

"There are trainers up ahead," said the boy. "If you make eye contact with them, you have to fight them. That's the rule."

"Whose rule?" asked Arden. "That's a stupid rule."

"It's a trainer's duty," said the boy.

"I… okay, whatever," said Arden. "But is this the path to… Oh, never mind. I'll just find it myself."

"Make sure you have antidotes!"

"Right," mumbled Arden, starting off down the path. "You too."

"My pokemon fainted because I didn't have any antidote."

Arden exchanged a glance with Gimpy as he left the boy behind and—for a brief moment—trainer and pokemon were connected in mutual frustration and befuddlement.


	5. Viridian Forest

The cropped path that Arden was following curved around large trees, and tall grass, and the boy, holding his squirtle, rounded the bend, admiring the greenery around him. He spotted a young boy searching about in the tall grass a ways down the path, and paused to watch him. "Huh. Probably looking for pokemon," murmured Arden at length. Gimpy nodded slightly.

Arden took a few steps forward, wondering if he should interrupt the boy to ask which way Pewter City might be. Maybe, he shouldn't bother—after all, the last boy wasn't much help. Finally, he decided it wasn't worth the trouble and started, once again, along the path. As he passed near the tall grass, the boy looked up.

"Now we have to battle!" shouted the boy.

"What?" said Arden, turning his face toward the boy. He gave the boy a bewildered stare. Was he even old enough to have pokemon? Where were this kid's parents?

"You made eye contact with me," said the kid, coming out of the grass. He was wearing shorts. That wasn't the sort of clothes Arden would choose to go into tall, itchy grass in, but, then again, he was from a place where people weren't complete lunatics, so who was he to judge?

"No I didn't," said Arden. "I didn't even look at you!"

"Yeah you did. Just now when you said what," the kid told him. "Now we have to battle!"

"I—what? No, I—no! You tricked me!" said Arden. "That's not fair! I don't want to fight. I just want to go to Pewter City…"

"Too late. We have to battle," said the boy. "Go, Caterpie!"

"I don't want to, though," said Arden again, shaking his head. "I'm leaving!"

"You can't run from a trainer battle!" yelled the kid, and his caterpie raised itself up in angry agreement.

"What? That's stupid. Why not?"

"It's forbidden! Now, battle me!"

Arden sighed. "Yeah, fine," he said, defeated. "Let's see… caterpie is a bug pokemon, so… Oh!" He reached into his pocket and grabbed a hold of a pokeball. "Go, Brain Damage!"

The pokeball opened with a flash, releasing Arden's new pidgey. Immediately the pokemon fell to the ground, cooing and weakly flapping his wings. The boy and his caterpie exchanged a confused look. "Ah… alright," said the boy after a moment. "Uh, Caterpie—tackle."

The caterpie charged at Brain Damage, who did nothing to avoid the attack. "Brain, tackle it back," said Arden. The pidgey merely titled its head and flapped its wings. "…Brain? …ah, man. I hate this place…"

Apparently unable to return any attacks, on account of all its brain damage, it wasn't long before Brain Damage was defeated by the kid's caterpie. Disheartened, Arden returned him to his ball.

"Okay, what now? Can I go?" asked Arden.

"No," said the kid. He pointed at Gimpy. "Send out your next Pokemon!"

"But—can't we just say you won? I really don't want to fight anymore—ah, fine." Arden sighed and set the squirtle on the ground in front of the caterpie. "Go get 'em, Gimpy. …fight dirty if you have to."

Gimpy nodded and limped forward. The caterpie looked at it for a moment, twitching the feelers at the top of its head. As Gimpy stumbled toward the caterpie, he couldn't help but feel that it posed no real threat. He let his guard down, and that was his mistake. In a split second, faster than lightning or wind, the caterpie sprang up and was upon the squirtle, beating him all over with its long body. Gimpy would have been positively humiliated if he hadn't been so soundly trounced that he was knocked out.

"No way! Ah—Gimpy, you useless pile of shell!" shouted Arden. "Now I have to go all the way back to Viridian and without any pokemon! What a pain!"

"You need to black out," said the kid, pulling out his pokeball and returning his caterpie to it.

"Say what now?"

"Black out. That's what happens," said the kid. "You're out of pokemon. So you black out."

"But I don't… I mean…--why?"

"It's just what happens," said the kid.

Arden paused. "Are—are you serious?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not going to black out. I mean, I'm completely fine…"

Suddenly there was a loud 'crack' overhead. Arden looked up just in time to see a tree branch of no small size falling toward him. It clocked him on his head and he passed out. He had no idea for how long he was out, but when he woke up, he was in the pokemon centre in Viridian, Gimpy fully refreshed at his side. Arden rubbed his head, feeling a lump through the hair, and checked his pockets by habit. He was missing some money. "Ah—that stupid kid in the forest pick pocketed me!"

He picked up Gimpy and marched out of the Pokemon Centre. "Come on, Gimpy," he said, fuming. "Now this is a matter of pride."

"Squirtle…?" mumbled the pokemon. But, it mattered little to him—at this point, he was just along for the ride and he knew it.

With a determined look and determined steps, Arden made his way to the forest. He passed the old man drinking his coffee. He passed the people in the gate house who he assumed were as insane as the old man. He passed the boy whose pokemon had all feinted. And then, in the same place as before, he found the boy with the caterpie.

"You're back to fight again?" asked the boy. Arden nodded. "Okay. Go, Caterpie!"

The boy sent out his caterpillar pokemon. The caterpie reared up, ready to strike, and Arden's squirtle blanched. However, Arden already had a plan. "Okay," said Arden. "Go, Gimpy!"

But, instead of setting his pokemon down on the ground as he had before, this time Arden raised up the squirtle by his sides and slammed him down, shell-first, on top of the kid's caterpie. The caterpie made a pathetic sound and feinted. Gimpy lay on top of the pokemon, stunned, a little foam coming up out of his mouth.

And so it was that Gimpy learned the move 'bubble'.


	6. Viridian Forest II

"You don't play fair!" said the boy, returning his caterpie to its ball. He was nearly in tears. "Now you've fainted my pokemon, and you didn't do it by playing fair!"

"Fainted your pokemon? You should have brought more antidotes," said Arden. "Come on, Gimpy."

"That doesn't even make sense," said the boy.

"Yeah, well," was all Arden could say. He reached down to pick up Gimpy, but the squirtle smacked his hands away.

"Squirt!"

"What, you think it's cheating, too?" asked Arden. The squirtle shook his head. "Oh, what then?"

The squirtle huffed and crossed his arms. "Squirt. Squirtle."

"I don't understand what that means!" shouted Arden, grabbing at his own hair with one had. "I—jeez. Fine, then. You can walk if you're going to be like that!"

And, face red with anger, Arden spun around and stomped further into the forest. Gimpy slowly uncrossed his stubby arms and, scowling, followed. The squirtle's process, however, was impeded by his leg and, as he limped after his trainer, more and more ground came between boy and pokemon. It wasn't long before Arden was completely out of sight, much to Gimpy's distress.

Arden did not notice however. He was fed up with this place already. He wanted to just leave Kanto behind, and go back to Goldenrod City. Goldenrod… The sky scrapers, and the wide roads, and the game corner and underground and train station. Not to mention every friend he had, and everyone he knew and loved.

But he couldn't show his face there. Not like this. Not as a failure.

With a start, Arden realized that he'd taken quite a few turns without paying attention. He stopped and looked around the dark forest, realizing that Gimpy was no longer with him. "Gimp? …Gimpy?"

Silence.

Arden frowned. He didn't like this at all. He felt so alone, and vulnerable… He put his hand in his pocket, around Brain's pokeball to reassure himself that everything was fine. Every thing was perfectly fine. Everything was---

Some grass shook and Arden jumped.

"Eeeee---who's there?" he said. "I've got a pidgey and I'm not afraid to use it!"

He pulled out the pokeball and held it toward the grass like he was pointing a gun. The grass shook again.

"…Gimpy, is that you?" asked the young trainer hesitantly. He bit his lip. "I'm sorry about before, Gimp."

The grass shook again, and two long, thin ears poked out of it. Arden took a step back, and the ears—yellow, pointy things tipped with black—twitched. After a short hesitation, the head attached to the aforementioned ears also poked out of the grass. A pikachu, Arden saw with relief. It wasn't poisonous or frightening in anyway. In fact, it was kind of cute. Arden smiled and put Brain Damage's pokeball back in his pocket, before kneeling down.

"Hey there, little fella," he said, holding out one hand toward the pikachu. "How're you doing? Huh? Come here…"

The pikachu timidly took a few steps out of the grass, before crouching down about a yard away from Arden. Slowly, Arden reached into his pack. "I'm not gonna hurt you. It's alright," he said, pulling out a granola bar. He broke off a piece and held it forward. "Here. Have some of this."

"Piiiiika?" said the pokemon, tilting its head to one side. It took a step closer.

"It's alright," said Arden. "Here, take it."

The pikachu took a couple more steps forward, before straightening itself up. It reached his outstretched and sniffed the granola bar carefully. Arden smiled—it was so cute, and so timid… The pikachu's ears came forward and it appeared pleased by the offering. It was about to take it, Arden was sure.

But it didn't take it. Instead it opened its mouth and bit down hard on one of Arden's fingers.

"Ah—what the?!" yelled Arden, dropping the granola bar and quickly withdrawing his hand. The area was red and already swelling. He'd certainly have a bruise, now. And, above all, that was one painful bite! "Why would you do something like that? I offered you food!"

"Pi-ka!" shouted the pokemon, puffing out its chest. Electricity crackled on its bright red cheeks. "Piiikachu!"

"Hey, take it easy," said Arden, getting a little frightened. "I—I can give you the whole bar if you want. Do you want the whole bar?"

With an unsteady hand, he held out the rest of the granola bar to the pikachu, but it merely smacked it out of his hand. The bar fell to the dirt, and Arden couldn't help but feel that it was rather wasteful on the pokemon's part. The pikachu raised one of its large feet and stomped on the bar to further drive home it's point—whatever that was. "Ka-chu!"

"I don't… ah, jeez, really, now, I was going to eat that," said Arden, sitting down.

"Pikachu!" screamed the pokemon, flattening its ears. Arden didn't like the look of that. "Pi. Ka. Chuuuu!"

The pokemon pounded its chest with its tiny hands. Then, it leapt at Arden, straight at his face. He barely had time to let out a somewhat girly scream before the pokemon was upon him, smacking him with its little hands and its tail, and biting him and scratching him, and all the time crackling with energy while yelling at the top of its tiny lungs. Arden let out some terrified cries and tried to get the yellow rat pokemon off of him, but to no avail. It was dead set on beating him up. He had no idea why.

However, it just so happened that, as he flailed about, one of his fists made contact, knocking the pikachu off. Arden took the opportunity to scramble to his feet as the pikachu righted itself. It leaped at him again, and he threw a kick, hitting it in the stomach.

"You ruined my granola!" shouted Arden, feeling righteously angry and newly empowered.

"Pika!" shouted the pikachu and it lunged again. It struck Arden's torso, knocking the air out of him, but he brought down one balled fist on the back of its furry head.

The pikachu fell down, momentarily stunned, and a little disoriented. Arden reached into his bag and grabbed a pokeball. There was only one way to end this fight, he thought. He threw the pokeball and it enveloped the angry pikachu in its light.

The ball fell on the ground and Arden watched it with bated breath. It rolled once. Twice. Thrice. And then, with a beep, it was still. He had caught it!

Arden picked up the pokeball and, holding it, slumped down against the trunk of a tree to recover from the fight, holding it against his chest.

"Cruelty, they name is Pikachu," he mumbled. "…eh. Or maybe the other way around."

Worn out, he closed his eyes and, momentarily, drifted off to sleep. It was a while before he was awoken by Gimpy, who had spent hours hobbling through the forest to find him. Arden didn't know about the squirtle's labour, and he didn't thank him for making the effort. Instead, he simply picked up his pokemon and started again through the forest.

"All I know," said Arden. "Is that this had better well be the path to Pewter City!"


	7. Pewter City Gym

Pewter City was not as impressive as Arden thought it would be. Not nearly. He was expecting sky scrapers and wide boulevards. Goldenrod had boulevards. Instead what he got was a dull little town.

"I just want to get to the gym and get out of here," Arden mumbled to Gimpy. "Now, where is the gym…?"

Arden wandered around a bit, frazzled, his squirtle occasionally offering advice that was completely incomprehensible to him. After a time, the boy came upon a grand museum. "Huh. Looks interesting," he said. Gimpy nodded. "Well… We could take a look around. I guess we've got time, and maybe there'll be someone in there I can ask for directions."

Cautiously, Arden made his way up the steps of the museum and through it's large, open doors. It was a dim, high-ceilinged building, he saw when he was inside. A security guard was seated at a desk to his right, just in front of the entrance. "Admission is 500 pokeyen," said the security guard not looking up from the magazine in front of him.

"What?" said Arden. "I have to pay to come in here?"

"Yup," said the guard, still not looking up. "500 pokeyen."

"But, why? What's in there?" asked Arden.

"Stuff. Does it matter?" said the guard, flipping the page of his magazine. "Oh, look at this… how to make cheap poffins at home. Huh…"

"So," said Arden. "Is there something exciting inside of here…?"

"Oh sure," said the guard in monotone. "Lots. It's just a regular hootenanny here."

Arden bit his lip. "Fine," he said, reaching into his pack. He placed some money on the counter. "There."

"Thank you," said the guard. "You can enter, now."

Giddily, Arden walked into the museum. It was empty and silent, save for the sound of the guard turning the pages of his magazine, and the low hum of the ceiling fans up ahead. Arden frowned and Gimpy sighed in his arms. He was expecting huge, colourful displays—maybe a diorama or two. Instead there were just a few glass cases. He walked up to one and looked inside. Fossils—old, rock-like fossils.

"Hey," he said slowly. "That guy tricked me! There isn't anything here but stupid rocks!"

The guard laughed. "Yeah, that's about it," he said. "Word to the wise, kid—don't spend money to get into a place that doesn't have a line out the door."

"Yeah, I'll remember that," said Arden, blushing hotly as he made his way out of the museum. He sighed when he was outside. "I really hate people, you know that, Gimpy? Jeez. I hate this place. I can't find the gym, and they have museums full of a whole lot of nothing that you have to pay to get inside."

"Squirt!" shouted Gimpy, pointing to a near by building.

"Huh?" Arden followed the gesture. "What's that—oh! How did I miss that! The gym? Let's go!"

He ran toward it, a little overexcited. And then he tripped on a stone and fell on his face, squishing Gimpy and twisting his own ankle. Arden groan and sat up slowly, grabbing a hold of his injured ankle. He looked down at Gimpy, laying stunned on the ground. "Sorry," he mumbled. The squirtle made no answer, but let a couple bubbles foam out of his mouth and slowly drift upward. Arden blinked. "What is that?"

"Squirtle?"

"That thing you just did?" said Arden. "Was that bubble? Do it again!"

Gimpy shrugged and shook his head. "Squirt."

"What, you can't do it? Or you won't do it?" asked Arden. "Come on!"

Before Gimpy could object, Arden snatched him up and squeezed him hard. "Do it again!"

Bubbles came out of Gimpy's mouth, much to Arden's delight. "Do you realize what this means, Gimp?" asked Arden, setting down the ruffled pokemon. "You've got a range attack now! You can battle and not be held back by that limp of yours! Isn't that great?"

"Squuuuirtle," said Gimpy, not seeming too enthused.

Arden stood up and, picking up the squirtle, started more carefully toward the gym. "Well," he muttered. "It really is a big building, isn't it…?"

He had to admit, he was quite intimidated by it. Shaking off the feeling, Arden stepped through the doors. He could see the gym leader at the back of the gym, waiting to take on challengers. Swallowing hard, Arden started toward him. Gym leaders had to be tough, of course and—well, Arden knew that _he_ was up to the challenge, but he just didn't think his pokemon were…

"Hey!" said a boy coming forward. "You're about a billion light years away from facing Brock!"

"Light years—I… That doesn't even make sense," said Arden.

"We have to battle," said the boy. "Sandshrew—go!"

"Of course," sighed Arden. Always with the battles…

The boy released his pokemon from its ball and Arden stared at it. "Okay," he said, and then held Gimpy toward it. "Get 'em, Gimp. Bubble!"

"Squirt!" protested Gimpy. He couldn't attack.

"Oh, come on!" said Arden. He squeezed Gimpy until bubbles foamed out of his mouth. "You know how to do it, you big faker!"

Arden's opponent watched the scene, baffled. The bubbles floated slowly through the air, and the sandshrew watched them come nearer. One of the bubbles touched him and he recoiled. A few more hit him, and he fell to the ground, fainted. The boy recalled the fallen pokemon, and sent out another—a geodude—only to have it fainted in the same way.

"Light years isn't a measure of time—it's distance," said the boy, recalling his decommissioned pokemon.

"I know," said Arden. "That's, uh, why it makes no sense."

"You're pretty hot," said the boy. "But Brock's going to beat you!"

Arden raised an eyebrow. "Did you just call me hot…?"

"Squirtle!" interjected Gimpy, tugging on Arden's lapel and pointing to the gym leader. He was eager to be done with it.

"Right, right," said the trainer, starting toward Brock. "The gym leader. The badge… Oh man, can you imagine what we'll do with that badge, Gimpy? We'll… uh… We'll go on to Cerulean! That's right!"

Brock watched him. "My pokemon have rock hard will power," he began.

"Yeah, whatever," said Arden, cutting him short. "You're a rock type trainer. No need for long speeches and no need for puns. Can we just battle?"

Brock paused a moment. "Ah—yeah, I guess we can," he said. He looked at Gimpy. "Is that what you're going to use?"

"Yessir," replied Arden. "His name's Gimpy. I call him Gimp for short sometimes."

"That pokemon's deformed," said Brock, pointing to its leg.

"Yeah, I know," said Arden.

"…should it really be battling?"

"He's a plenty good battler!" said Arden, puffing up his chest. Gimpy puffed up his chest, as well.

"That's not what I asked," said Brock with a sigh. "Fine, if you want to battle me, we'll battle. But don't say I didn't warn you when you have to high tail it to the pokemon centre. Go, Geodude!"

"Go Gimpy!" said Arden as the geodude appeared from its pokeball. "Bubble!"

Gimpy tried, and managed to produce one single bubble, which floated toward the geodude and popped on its cheek. The opponent's pokemon winced slightly. Arden shook Gimpy. "That's not how you do it!" he said, squeezing Gimpy again. "Try harder!"

"Squirt!" said Gimpy, distressed. Arden squeezed hard and a steady stream of bubbles came shooting out of his mouth. The bubbles struck the geodude, fainting it. Without a word, Brock returned the pokemon to its ball and sent out his next pokemon. An onix. The giant, snake-like pokemon towered above them both and let out a cry. Arden shrank back as Gimpy trembled in his hands.

"Holy—," said Arden. "That thing is enormous!"

"It's not a _thing_," said Brock. "It's a pokemon."

"Fine, whatever," mumbled Arden. "Gimp—bubble it!"

Gimpy, now getting the hang of his own ability, managed to shoot out a few bubbles. They hit the massive onix, but seemed to have no effect. The onix reared up its massive body and then lurched toward them. Arden's eyes widened as the giant rock pokemon drew near. "Oh, crap!" he yelled and, not knowing what else to do, he hurled the still-bubbling Gimpy at Onix's face. Gimpy smacked against the pokemon's forehead with a loud clatter, momentarily stunning both of them. "Good work, Gimpy. Now get it while it's still down!"

Gimpy made no move.

"Uh, fine then. That's enough, Gimpy. Go, Brain Damage!"

He released the pidgey from its ball and it cooed gently and wagged its wings. "While he's stunned, Brain," said Arden. "Go get him while he's stunned! Gust!"

Brain Damage cooed and cocked its head at Arden. "Urg!" said Arden. "Flap your wings! Just flap your wings at him real hard!"

The pidgey cooed again and flapped his wings. Arden smacked himself in the forehead. "Not like that! Hard! Hard!" Gimpy sat up. "Fine, you know what, nevermind Brain. Gimpy, you're back in! Bubble!"

Arden held up his pokeball and Brain Damage withdrew to inside of it. Squaring his shoulders and planting his feet as firmly as his condition would allow, Gimpy fired the strongest blast of bubbles he'd managed yet. The bubbles hit the onix and, with a mighty roar, it collapsed, unconscious.

"We won?" asked Arden, surprised himself.

"You won," said Brock, returning onix to its pokeball. "And I'm required to bestow upon you the Boulder Badge. However… I don't think you deserve it."

"Wait, what?" asked Arden, picking up Gimpy and moving toward Brock to receive his badge.

"I don't think you deserve it," repeated Brock. "You don't love your pokemon. You yell and abuse it, and there is no trust or harmony in your relationship. You're young, and I hope it's something you grow out of. Anyway, here's your badge."

He held out the badge and Arden took it. "Uh… I guess, thanks," said Arden. He bit his lip and, having nothing more to say, turned to go. When he was outside, he scoffed at what the gym leader had told him. "No love… You feel plenty loved, right, Gimp?"

"Squuuirt," murmured the pokemon. Arden had no idea what that meant, so he took it as a 'yes' and left it at that.


	8. Route 3

Arden silently made his way out of Pewter City, carrying Gimpy, and frowning as he thought about what Brock had said to him. "Don't love my pokemon..." mumbled Arden. "Huh. What a load of crap."

Gimpy happened to agree with Brock, however. He found himself agreeing more and more as Arden's grip around him tightened out of frustration. Arden ground his teeth, ignoring Gimpy's protests at the increased pressure. Finally, the boy stopped walking, stamping on foot on the ground forcefully.

"How _dare _he say those things to me, Gimpy—how dare he!" said Arden. "What, he thinks he knows so much more than me, just because he's a gym leader? Well, he doesn't! I should—I should march back into that gym and give him and his stupid rock pokemon a piece of my mind, because he does _not_ know what he is talking about. All high and mighty, like he thinks he's the... the tsar of pokemon care, or something."

His anger ran out of steam, however, and he could only sigh and continue along, toward the route out of Pewter City. High mountains rose up beside the path, creating a narrow channel. As Arden entered it, he paused for a moment to marvel at the mountains surrounding them. "Well, look at that," he said, shielding his eyes against the sun as he looked up.

"Squuuirtle," said Gimpy, shielding his eyes, as well.

"Excuse me, Arden?" said a man. Arden looked down at the speaker, who was vaguely familiar to him, yet somehow he could not quite place where he had seen the man. "I'm one of Professor Oak's assistant's... You were at his lab in Pallet Town?"

Arden stared at the assistant blankly.

"You picked up your squirtle and your pokedex there, remember?" asked the assistant. "I mean—it was just this morning..."

"Oh—right, right, right," said Arden. "What's up?"

"Professor Oak sent me to give you this," said the assistant, holding out a pair of shoes to Arden. A piece of flowery stationary poked out of one of the shoes, Arden noticed as he set Gimpy down to take them. "There's a note attached."

"I see that," Arden said, as the assistant handed them over. He pulled out the note and read the first line aloud. "'To my beloved challenger'—eh?! Just what kind of racket is Professor Oak running? I'm not his beloved anything, I can tell you that--!"

"These are from your mother," said the assistant quickly. "Your mother sent them."

"Oh. Well, that would explain why it's in her hand writing..."

"They're running shoes," said the assistant. "You can use them to run wherever there's room. Just hit 'b'."

"...hit 'b'?" asked Arden, raising one eyebrow. "What do you--?"

The assistant grew suddenly anxious. "I've said too much already," he said quickly. "Have a good day, and good luck with your pokemon league challenge."

"Wait, I want to talk about that comment about hitting 'b'," said Arden, but the man was already rushing off, his face covered in sweat. Arden looked at the shoes and then down at Gimpy. The squirtle raised his little hands to the air in a gesture like a shrug. "Well, it was nice of Mom to send me these shoes, I guess... I mean, I'll put them on, but I don't know what I'm gonna do with the ones I'm already wearing. I mean, I guess I'll just toss those up onto a cliff or something and forget about them. Maybe tie the laces together and sling them over a telephone wire, I don't know..."

He sat down on a near by rock and slipped his feet out of his shoes. "I don't know, Gimpy—I mean, I thought I could run perfectly fine before. I don't see why I need specific shoes for this," he said. Gimpy didn't know either.

"Ew!" shouted a girl nearby. Arden looked up. "Did you just touch me?!"

"What--?" asked Arden. "Er, no. I didn't. You're standing, like, ten feet away from me. I don't see how..."

"Battle," said the girl, holding up a pokeball.

Arden sighed and pulled on his running shoes. "Of course," he said flatly. "I should have figured it was something like that. All you people speak nonsense, and then assume it's an acceptable lead in to a battle. Right."

"Right," said the girl. "Gooooo, Pidgey!"

She tossed the pokeball, and her pidgey appeared with a dazzling flash of light. Gimpy made a slow and careful attempt to turn toward the pidgey, but Arden stopped him. "No, no," said Arden, picking up the squirtle. "I've got another one for this. Go, Cruelty!"

He threw out a pokeball from his belt, releasing the pikachu that had been stored therein. The pikachu looked around for a moment, as though trying to get its bearings before its eyes locked on the pidgey. "Kaaaachu," murmured Cruelty, straightening up his ears.

"Pidgey, tackle!" said the girl.

The pidgey cooed and flapped its wings before lunging at Arden's pikachu. Cruelty dodged the attack easily, however.

"Pikachu!" shouted the pokemon as the girl's pidgey tried to correct itself.

"Good job, Cruelty!" shouted Arden. "Now, thundershock!"

As though it had not heard him, the pikachu threw itself at the pidgey, punching at it with its tiny hands and smacking it around with its tail. Its cheeks sparked, but it make no attempt to shock the enemy pokemon.

"Hey—what is he doing?" said the girl. "That's not a pokemon fight—that's, that's... That's just mean! Get your pikachu off my pidgey! This isn't right!"

"I'm sorry," said Arden. "This is... Cruelty! Stop it! Return!"  
"Chuuu!" growled the pikachu, still clawing and slapping the bird pokemon as it thrashed about in confusion.

"Pidgey, return!" shouted the girl, holding up her pokeball. With a flash of the light, her pokemon disappeared, leaving Cruelty to look around, confounded. The girl turned on Arden, her eyes features fierce, tears clinging to her eyes. "You need to get your pokemon under control!"

"I—I'm sorry. Yes, I should," said Arden, rubbing the back of his neck. "He's, uh, he's new... It won't happen again."

"Kaaa!" shouted Cruelty. He launched himself at the girl, pulling at her hair and scratching at her face. "Piiiiii! Ka, pikaaaa-pi!"

The girl screamed and swatted at his attacking pikachu.

"_After this_," said Arden, as he scrambled to help her. "It won't happen again _after this_!"

Gimpy sighed and pressed one hand against his own forehead. "Squirt. Squirtle."


	9. Route 3 II

When Arden had disengaged Cruelty from the girl's face and returned him to his pokeball, he slumped against a large, sheer-faced rock. The girl walked off toward Pewter City in a huff, her face covered in minor lacerations. Gimpy watched her go, looking visibly saddened.

"It's okay, Gimp," Arden said. "The same thing happened to me when I first met Cruelty in the woods. He's, uh, he's just a little over-enthusiastic."

"Squirt," said the pokemon, still looking a bit upset.

Arden sighed. "Look, I promise I'll try and train him some. That's all he needs—some good training," said the boy to the squirtle as he straightened up. "But, hey, he did beat that pidgey pretty good. He just didn't know when to quit..."

He walked along the path, until they reached a large rock which impeded any further progress. He looked around and spotted a ledge beside him, with a thin trail carved into it. With a shrug, he made his way up the steep trail until he reached a grassy plateau beyond it. He glanced around and saw a young boy standing there and sighed. "Oh, great. Another one..."

Catching his gaze, the boy hurried up to him. "I like shorts," said the boy. "They're comfy. Don't you like shorts? I like shorts."

"I... shorts?" asked Arden. "You want to battle, right?"

The boy nodded.

"Okay. Then why are you telling me how much you love shorts? Wouldn't it make more sense for you to, I don't know, to talk about how much you love your pokemon, or battling, or looking for pokemon or _anything at all_ that is even _remotely _related to a pokemon battle?"

The boy thought for a moment, before hesitantly offering, "I keep my pokeball in my shorts' pocket?"

"Yes, very good," said Arden. "I... guess..."

They lapsed into a long and awkward silence.

"So," said the boy. "Can we battle now, or...?"

"Oh, right," said Arden. "Uh, sure. Go, Brain Damage!"

"Go, Rattata!"

They threw their pokeballs, letting loose their pokemon for the fight. The rattata growled and bared its teeth, as Brain Damage cooed and looked around stupidly.

"Rattata, tackle!"

The pokemon lunged forward, striking Brain Damage dead on. The pidgey cooed sadly as the force caused it to roll backwards in a heap. Slowly, Brain righted himself.

"Come on, Brain—use sand attack!"

The pidgey cooed and flapped his wings. Arden sighed and smacked himself in the forehead. "Urgh—this is getting us no where. Brain, return!"

He held up the pidgey's pokeball, and the pokemon disappeared into it with a flash of light. He set down Gimpy. "Your turn, Gimp. Use bubble!"

"Squirtle!" shouted Gimpy, hunching over. With a great amount of effort, he forced a stream of bubbles from his mouth, which floated innocently toward the rattata. The foe rattata watched them curiously, until one struck him on the nose, causing him to cringe, first, and then to cry out as the rest struck.

"Rattata, use quick attack!" shouted the boy in the shorts.

The rattata winced but followed its command, striking Gimpy squarely in the stomach and bowling him over. The squirtle grunted as he fell on his back, and tried to right himself with little success.

"Gimp—use bubble! Come on, sit up and use bubble!" shouted Arden, shaking one fist. "Oh, for the love of—roll onto your stomach, it's not that hard!"

With a great deal of grunting and swinging his stubby arms and deformed legs, Gimpy managed to right himself. He fired a stream of slow-moving bubbles at his foe and—though the rattata attempted to evade the attack—most of them struck. The rattata recoiled and growled at Gimpy, but the squirtle attacked again with bubble. The bubbles struck and the rattata went down.

"Yeah!" screamed Arden, picking up the squirtle and hugging him. "Good job, Gimp!"

"Squirtle," said Gimpy, obviously pleased with himself.

"Oh, you did good too, Rattata," said the boy, returning his pokemon to its ball.

"What?" said Arden. "No it didn't. It sucked up the stage. Your pokemon's a failure."

"Hey—no it isn't," said the boy. "I'm proud of Rattata, even if it's not the strongest pokemon in the world."

"In the world? It's not even the strongest pokemon in this pass," said Arden.

The little boy's frustration was beginning to show; tears were forming in his eyes and his face was becoming quite an interesting shade of red. "I don't care," said the boy, balling up his fists. "Rattata is my friend and it means a lot to me, and I don't care whether or not it can beat your stupid squirtle."

"Stupid?" said Arden, holding Gimpy tight to his chest. "Stupid?! Well, he beat your little rodent. If my pokemon's stupid, what does that say about yours?"

"You're a mean, mean guy," said the boy, bursting into tears. He pushed past Arden and ran down the path.

Arden called after him, "Yeah, well, you're a wimp and those shorts make your legs look fat!"


	10. Route 4 Pokemon Center

It was a long, tiring trip through the winding mountain pass for Arden and Gimpy, and it seemed to the former that they were stopped about every twenty feet by a trainer who wanted to battle. For most of these fights, Arden used Gimpy and won—however, there were a few occasions when he attempted to use Brain Damage and either had to switch his squirtle in, or else lose. On the occasions he lost, he felt a strange compulsion to pass out, and later awoke outside the Pokemon Centre, wondering just what had happened.

And so an already long path was made longer by the fact he had to keep starting at the beginning again.

"Squirt-le," said an exasperated Gimpy, the sixth time this happened.

"You're tellin' me," said Arden as he entered the canyon-like pass. He climbed along the inclines and declines of the trail, passing trainers he'd already beaten, and trying to avoid eye-contact with those he hadn't. In manner, he made his way to an area closed in by sheer cliffs on three sides, and a series of ledges along the other side which led up to a lonely Pokemon Centre.

"Who puts a Pokemon Centre out in the middle of nowhere?" asked Arden.

"Squirtle," said Gimpy, raising his little hands in a gesture similar to a shrug.

Arden started up the path to the Pokemon Centre, biting his lip. "You know what? This is exactly the sort of place you'd see in a horror movie," he said. "A little Pokemon Centre, all alone in the mountains, and it'd be night and there'd be a serial killer chasing promiscuous teens around and they'd try to hide in the Pokemon Centre, but the killer would already be in there."

Gimpy looked at his trainer doubtfully.

"It's true, Gimp. Hell, the only reason there aren't gruesome murders occurring now is that it isn't night. Come to think of it, it's never night here. ...Johto used to have night all the time. Er, well, at least every dozen hours, or so..."

He reached the Pokemon Centre and the automatic glass doors opened before them. Breathing heavy and sweaty from the hike up, Arden entered the building, rejoicing in the cool air within. He went to the counter, and the woman behind it smiled widely at him. "Hello, and welcome to the Pokemon Centre. May I heal your Pokemon for you?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Arden as he set Gimpy down on the counter. The nurse took him while Arden pulled the others' pokeballs from his belt and then—as an afterthought—he pulled Gimpy's pokeball off, as well and handed it to her with the rest.

"Thank you very much," said the nurse chipperly. "This will take a few minutes. Please have a seat—I'll call you when your pokemon are in fighting condition."

"Right, thanks," said Arden, turning toward the comfortable-looking chairs in one corner of the room. As he started toward them, a man grabbed his shoulder to stop him. Arden looked up at the man wearily.

"Is that all the pokemon you have?" asked the man. "I mean, I don't mean to be nosey, or nothin' like that, but I couldn't help but notice you only got three."

"Yeah, I've only got three," said Arden. Feeling somewhat defensive about it, he added, "What's it matter to you?"

"Well, I got a proposition that I thought you might like," said the man, reaching into one pocket. He pulled out a pokeball. "See, it seems to me that you've got some room on your team, and a smart young lad like yourself wouldn't pass up the chance to add a truly powerful pokemon to his team, now, right?"

"A powerful pokemon?" repeated Arden, starting at the pokeball in the man's hand.

"Yup."

"That?"

"Sure!'

Arden narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "If it's a powerful pokemon, how come you're giving it away?"

"Giving?" The man laughed at the idea and patted Arden on the head, much to the boy's annoyance. "Oh, no, lad, I'm not _giving _this rare and precious pokemon away. I'm _selling_ it."

"How much?"

"Five hundred," said the man.

Arden frowned. "That sounds sort of cheap for a rare pokemon," he said. "Though, I guess I don't really know the going price of pokemon..."

"Exactly. You don't know," said the man, wagging a finger at him. "I, on the other hand, do know. I make a living at selling rare pokemon. Don't you think I know how much a rare pokemon is worth? It's my livelihood, lad!"

Arden tilted his head to one side. "That's a very good point."

"I really need to get going," said the man. He wiggled the pokeball in front of Arden's nose. "What's it going to be, lad? Are you going to let opportunity just walk away because of your infantile doubts? Pokemon trainers need strong pokemon and no pokemon is stronger than this pokemon."

"I don't know..."

"Well, that's rough," said the man, frowning and slowly bringing the pokeball back toward his pocket. "I guess that I'll have to go find somebody that wants to be a powerful trainer. It's a shame, though... Well, I'll see you 'round, lad."

The man started for the door, but Arden caught him by the sleeve with a yelp of, "No, wait!"

The man turned slowly back around, smiling. "Yes?" he asked.

"I—I will take that pokemon," said Arden, reaching into his pack and pulling out the money. "I want to be a powerful trainer! I want to be a very powerful trainer with powerful pokemon and a powerful life and powerful everything!"

The man grinned broadly as he took the money and counted it. Handing the pokeball to Arden, he said, "That's a good decision, lad, a very good decision. I can see you've got the head of a Pokemon League Champion on your shoulders." He slipped the money into his pocket and bowed with a flourish toward Arden. "Now, I bid you adieu, and I hope you don't forget me when you're a big, famous pokemon trainer."

Then, with the quick steps of one hoping to get far away before some fact is uncovered, the man left the Pokemon Centre. Arden turned the pokeball in his hands over. "I wonder what sort of pokemon it is?" he muttered aloud.

He pointed the pokeball at an empty path before him and was about to release the pokemon, when the nurse called to him, "Excuse me, little boy! Your pokemon are fighting fit!"

"Oh," said Arden, putting the pokeball he'd just received on his belt. He approached the counter and took the three pokeballs from the nurse. "Thanks. Say, do you know if I'm going the right way to get to Cerulean City?"

"Sure are," said the woman with a smile. Arden wondered to himself why these women always smiled. He sure wouldn't smile if this was his job. "Just go on through Mt. Moon and you'll be practically on top of it! Though, I would mind you be careful in Mt. Moon..."

"Why's that?" Arden asked, leaning against the counter. "Are there dangerous pokemon there?"

"Oh, no—it's nothing like that," she responded. "No, I'm afraid there are dangerous people there. A group called Team Rocket."

"Team Rocket? With that sort of name... I'm just not sure why I should be afraid of them," said Arden.

"Well, they wear all black, if that helps."

"Oh," said Arden. "Well, yes, it kind of does. Thanks, I'll be sure to steer clear of them."

"Good boy," said the nurse. "Have a nice day. We hope to see you again soon."


	11. Mt Moon

With Gimpy in his pokeball, Arden felt uncomfortably light. He tucked his hands in his pockets, unsure of what to do with his hands without holding the pokemon, as he approached the entrance of Mt. Moon. For a moment, he paused before the mouth of the cave, looking into the dark tunnel beyond.

Dark tunnels scared Arden.

He bit his lip and told himself it'd be alright. After all, he had a powerful pokemon on his belt. What could possibly hurt _him_?

Puffing out his chest and squaring his shoulders, Arden crossed the threshold into Mt. Moon. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the lack of light, and when they did he saw a huge cavern around him, with uneven grey walls, and stalactites jutting out of the roof. Droves of zubat clung to the stalactites, wings folded around them. Arden walked looking up at them and—as he did—tripped over a geodude.

"Geo!" shouted the pokemon angrily, as it raised one rocky fist.

Arden scrambled back and reached to his belt, pulling off a pokeball. "Go, pokemon!"

He threw the pokeball and it landed in front of the geodude before releasing a flash of light. Arden watched eagerly, curious to see what would come out of it. The light died away, leaving behind a red fish pokemon.

Magicarp.

Arden gaped at the pokemon as it thrashed about on the cave floor helplessly, flailing its fins and opening and closing its mouth while repeatedly making a noise that resembled a very choked battle-cry of 'carp'. The geodude looked at the magicarp for a moment, before looking up at Arden.

"I—that guy tricked me!" shouted Arden. "Urg—never mind. Magicarp's a water-type, and geodude's a rock-type, so it shouldn't matter if it's not very powerful!"

He turned to the flopping magicarp. "Attack! Do something water-related!"

The magicarp continued to flop on the cave floor for a full minute without doing anything. Arden scowled. "Why are all my pokemon so useless?!" he screamed, picking up the magicarp by the tail. It thrashed around in his hand as he looked to the geodude, which was watching him warily.

Arden swung the magicarp by the tail like he was swinging a baseball bat, and struck the geodude soundly, knocking it against the cave wall.

"Carpcarpcarpcarp," objected the magicarp, flailing its fins about uselessly. Arden observed that the geodude had been knocked out cold and dropped the magicarp.

"Oh, quit your complaining," he told it, picking up its pokeball. "You just won a battle. Probably the only battle you'll ever win."

"Carpcarpcarpcarp—"

"Yeah, whatever," said Arden returning it to his pokeball. The placed the pokeball back onto his belt. "Man, I've got to get rid of this thing. Useless..."

Shoving his hands in his pockets again, he entered the main body of the cavern which was—as one might guess—quite cavernous. A girl stood in the centre of it, staring at the opening. Arden looked at her and she looked back at him blankly. "Uh, hi," Arden mumbled after a moment.

"I came here with my friends and I got lost," she said.

"Oh," said Arden. "Do... you want help finding them, or something...?"

"No," said the girl. "But I do want a pokemon battle."

Arden sighed. "A pokemon battle? Really? I mean, you're not at all concerned about your friends?"

"Nope."

"Alright, fine," said Arden. "We'll, eh, we'll battle, then."

"Oh, good," said the girl, clapping her hands together in a very effeminate way. She threw a pokeball. "Go, Cleffairy!"

"Jeez, am I the only one in the whole world who nicknames my pokemon?" mumbled Arden, reaching to his belt. Clicking his tongue, he ran his fingers over Cruelty's pokeball and then—suddenly thinking better of it—picked up his squirtle's ball instead and threw it. "Go get 'em, Gimp!"

Gimpy stumbled and fell as he was released, hitting the ground with a cry of, "Squirt!"

"Get up—you're making me look bad," Arden whispered to the pokemon harshly, jerking him up by the arms into a standing position.

"Squirtle!" protested Gimpy, pulling his arms out of Arden's grasp.

"Oh—what a cute pokemon!" cooed the girl, bending over. "Where did you get it? I want one! It's so cute! Oh, isn't it cute, Cleffairy?"

"Cleffairy!" said the pink pokemon, smiling.

"Squuuuirtle," murmured Gimpy, blushing.

"Awwww! That is adorable!" said the girl, rushing forward to pick Gimpy up. She hugged tightly. "You are sooo cute!"

Gimpy grinned. "Squirt, squuuirtle!"

"Ung—hey, hey. Uh, are we gonna battle, or...?" Arden frowned, and kicked out the dirt as his question went ignored by the girl and her cleffairy who were too busy fawning over his squirtle to notice him. He sighed a few loud sighs, in hopes that he'd be noticed, but to no avail. "Oh, come on! I mean—he's not even the cutest pokemon I own!"

The girl looked up, delighted. "Oh, you have more cute pokemon? May I see?"

"Yeah, sure," said Arden defeated. He reached for Brain Damage's pokeball before stopping as another idea struck him. His hand moved slowly toward Cruelty's pokeball instead.

"Squirtle!" shouted Gimpy, seeing the movement. "Squirt squirtle squirt!"

Arden looked at him flatly. "Spoil-sport," he mumbled, grabbing Brain's pokeball and sending the pidgey out.

Brain Damage looked around his surroundings with wide, mostly-vacant eyes, cooing and thrashing his wings about. The girl squealed and dropped Gimpy before rushing to pick up the little pidgey. "He's adorable! Look at that little beak! And those cooing sounds he makes! So cute! Oh, I want one—I want one!"

"You have to be kidding," said Arden, narrowing his eyes and running one hand through his hair. "I mean, the whole area's full of—ah, never mind. What I mean to say is, you want one? Because I will trade you this one. Right now!"

He smiled in a way he wasn't sure looked completely honest. The girl looked up from cuddling his pidgey. "Really? Oh—but I couldn't. I mean, you must love him a whole lot, a cute thing like this..."

"Well, my granddad used to tell me that trading is an integral part of being a trainer," Arden told her looking down. "Because if a pokemon means a lot to you, and you give it to someone else, it's a chance for it to grow and to mean a lot to that person, also." That wasn't at all true. Arden didn't even have a granddad. He wondered how the swindler he'd met at the pokemon centre managed to pull off a con-job so smoothly.

"That's very true," said the girl, looking at Brain Damage. "And when you trade you make friends all over. Mmm. Yeah. Yeah! I will trade you!"

Arden grinned with relief. "Well," he said, holding out Brain's pokeball. "Here's his pokeball, for you to keep him in."

"Don't you want to know what I'll offer for him?"

"Eh—oh. Right. Ah, I have faith in you, that's all," said Arden quickly. "Enough that I don't need to know before hand. But, ah, what pokemon _are _you giving me?"

"Nidoran!" answered the girl, taking a pokeball out of her bag. Her cleffairy looked saddened. "Oh, it's alright, Cleffairy! I'm sure that Gentry will be plenty happy with... uh..."

"Arden."

"Arden." She patted the cleffairy's shoulder. "I'm sure that we'll see Arden again some day, and Gentry, too. Here you go, Arden. My name's Iris, by the way."

Arden took the pokeball from her, hooking it to his belt. "Nice to meet you, Iris," mumbled Arden. He pointed at the pidgey. "His name's Brain Damage."

"Brain Damage? Well, that's not a very nice name."

"Well, he—aah, no, I guess it's not. I have to get going now," Arden said, picking up Gimpy. "Have a, uh, good day, and take care of Brain."

Iris smiled. "Only if you take care of Gentry!"

Arden raised one eyebrow. "What, are you going to spy on me to make sure that I do, and severely mistreat Brain if I don't?"

The girl looked stunned for a moment. "N-no, that's not what I—oh, look, I think I see my friends." She started away, toward a group of people, with her cleffairy in tow. "Bye!"

"Yeah, you too," said Arden, slouching off in the opposite direction.


	12. Mt Moon II

Arden walked along, carrying Gimpy through the labyrinth that was Mt. Moon. Occasionally, he'd try to talk to Gimpy, only to get moody silence in answer. The first few times he ignored it as his imagination, but eventually, he stopped walking and dropped Gimpy on the floor. The squirtle hit the ground hard and fell onto his face.

"Squirt!" he shouted, scrambling to his feet. He turned to Arden, furrowing his brow. "Squirtle—squirt squirt squirtle!"

Arden crossed his arms. "Well, serves you right if that hurt," said the boy. "You've been a jerk for, like, the last two hours. You're lucky I didn't punt you into a wall."

"Squirtle!" shouted Gimpy. He huffed up his chest shot a few bubbles at Arden, which stung when they struck him.

"Ow—quit it!" said Arden, wincing and trying to knock the bubbles away with one hand. "Jeez—what is up with you? I mean, you were fine before we met that Iris girl. What, did all that fawning go to your head, you little blue jerk?"

"Squirt," said Gimpy, shaking his head and crossing his stubby arms. He looked to the side and mumbled, "Squirt, squirtle squirt."

Arden sighed. "I've told you before, I don't understand anything you say. Not anything."

Gimpy dropped his head, exasperated. After a moment, he decided on a different approach. "Squirt!" he said, and started flapping his arms and looking around with wide eyes. "Squuuuuir, squuuuuuuir, squuuuuuuuir…"

"Eh? What is tha—Brain Damage? Something about Brain Damage?"

"Squirtle!" said the pokemon, nodding vigorously.

"Brain Damage," mumbled Arden, putting one hand to his chin. "You… think I shouldn't have traded him?"

Gimpy nodded again. "Squirtle!"

"Oh," said Arden. He tapped his chin with his fingers a couple times before venturing, "Because it was dishonest…?"

"Squir—squirtle," answered the squirtle, first shaking his head and then nodding it.

"Is that… yes and no? Uh, so it's part because it was dishonest?"

The pokemon nodded. "Squirtle."

"Okay," said Arden slowly. "So, what's the rest of it?"

"Squirt squirtle squirt. Squirtle! Squir—"

"I told you, I don't understand that crap!" said Arden, getting frustrated. "Look, I don't care. I don't care. We have to get going."

He grabbed a hold of the protesting pokemon and lifted him up. Gimpy thrashed around. "Squirt! Squirtle!" said the pokemon in what Arden assumed was roughly equivalent to a demand to be put down.

"Knock it off!" said Arden. "Stop that! I want to leave! Hey—don't make me put you back in your pokeball. Or better yet, I swear I'll leave you right here."

"Squirt! Squirt! Squirtle!" objected Gimpy, kicking his leg. He threw one of his little arms out, smacking Arden in the face.

"Ah! Hey!" said Arden. "You're just determined to be a little pill, aren't you?"

"Squirtle!" Gimpy yelled at the top of his lungs. His voice echoed around the cavern, and was met with the startled flight of a horde of zubat leaving their perches.

A stray zubat veered down toward Arden and Gimpy, screeching and frantically flapping its wings at them.

"Ah! Zubat!" yelped Arden, dodging out of its way. "Quick, Gimp! Hit it with bubble!"

"Squirt!" shouted Gimpy, shooting out a stream of light blue bubbles toward the zubat. The zubat dodged the bubbles nimbly before wheeling toward Gimpy and screeching again.

Gimpy fell back, as if struck. "Gimp!" said Arden. "You alright, pal?"

The squirtle got slowly to his feet, swaying and stumbling. "Squuuuiruuuiruuuuur," he mumbled, looking dazed.

"Good, Gimpy! Don't give 'em an inch! Bubble!"

Gimpy puffed up his chest as if he were about to do the attack, but nothing came out. Arden watched for a full three minutes as the Zubat circled over head, and Gimpy stood frozen in mid-attack. Then, the squirtle fell over with a moan as a bastion of bubbles foamed harmlessly out of his mouth, popping a short way in front of his face. The zubat screeched again and swooped down at Gimpy, biting him as it did and sucking some of his blood before swooping back up out of reach.

"Come on, Gimpy—get up!"

"Squuuuuir," mumbled the pokemon, sounding confused. He rocked back and forth on his shell without any definite purpose evident in his actions.

Arden grimace. "Jeez—come back, Gimpy, that's enough," he said, holding up the squirtle's pokeball. A light from the pokeball engulfed him, pulling him inside. "Alright, time to see what you can do—go Gentry!"

He threw the pokeball—noticing for the first time that it had a large heart-shaped sticker adorning it—and in a flash of light, his newly acquired pokemon was released. The nidoran's eyes went directly to his target without stopping on anything else and he let out a little cry of, "Nido!"

"Okay, Gentry—use, uh, use poison sting!" said Arden.

"Nidora—," started the little pink pokemon, preparing its attack. It cut off suddenly, turning to look at Arden. "Ni… Nidoran?"

"I said, poison sting," said Arden. He pointed. "On that zubat. Use poison sting on that zubat!"

The nidoran looked around confused. "Nido? Niiiidoran?" he said turning around slowly, his large ears flat against his back. "Niiiiidoraaaaan?"

"If you're looking for Iris, she's not here," said Arden. "We traded. I'm your trainer now. And I want you to use poison sting on that zubat."

"Nido," said the nidoran, looking positively heart-broken. He laid down on the ground and buried his face under his little paws, making a sniffling sound.

"Are—are you crying?" asked Arden, raising one eyebrow. "Oh, jeez. Forget this! Gentry, return!"

He held up the pokeball and the nidoran disappeared into it. Arden looked up at the still circling zubat and it screeched at him. He pulled a pokeball from his pack and lobbed it at the zubat. "If that old codger in Viridian could catch a healthy pokemon, I can too!"

The ball stuck the zubat knocking it out the air. Pokemon and pokeball hit the ground hard before the ball opened and a red light engulfed the zubat. The pokeball rolled side to side a couple times. Just as it looked like it was about to open and release the pokemon, Arden ran up and grabbed a hold of it, pushing the halves together with all his strength.

"You stay in there, damn it!" he demanded. He could feel the ball shaking in his hands, trying to open, for what seemed an eternity. And then, it stopped. The ball made a clicking sound signifying the capture. Arden puffed out his chest and hooked the pokeball to his belt. "Yeah. Yeah, that's exactly what I thought. Check_mate _zubat!"


	13. Mt Moon III

Arden turned over Gentry's pokeball in his hands, looking at the large sticker on top of it. "How girly," he mumbled as he made his way through the cave, only half-paying attention to where he was going. "Even if I can get this thing to listen to me, I bet he'll be so emasculated he's a useless fighter."

With a sigh, he attached it to his belt, and glanced around at his dim surroundings. The zubat were mostly calm, above his head—except for one or two readjusting themselves occasionally, they seemed to have no problem with him passing through their territory. The grey stone walls were monotonous and uninteresting to Arden. Of course, all caves were uninteresting to the boy;—when they weren't downright frightening to him, of course. As he walked on, observing the dank walls and black tunnels, his foot hit a patch of empty air and he tumbled forward, smacking his head hard on the ground before falling through a hole. He hit the ground hard, and lay on his back, stunned, staring up at the circular hole above him, with the neat little ladder leaned against its side.

"Nng… My head… Ahh—_why_ didn't I see that?" he moaned, rubbing a swelling bump on the back of his head as he sat up. "Aaaahh."

"Hey kid," said a figure in the darkness. "What do you think you're doing down here?"

Arden rubbed his back slowly. "Feeling more pain that I've ever felt in my entire life. Who's there?"

"No one. No one at all. Not if you know what's good for you," said the figure, which Arden could now identify a man in a black uniform of some sort, a large 'R' emblazoned on his chest.

Arden stood up, swaying. "Wha—is that a threat? I mean, I feel a little woozy here, so I might be misinterpreting you, or not hearing right…"

"Oh," said the man. "…well, yes, it was a threat."

Arden blinked. "Oh, I've got it!" he said after a moment. "You're from Team Rocket, aren't you?"

"Yeah—I mean, no. Or maybe. I mean, who's asking, huh?" said the man, reaching toward his belt.

"You're not getting a gun, are you?" asked Arden stepping back and holding up his arms as if to shield himself.

"What? A gun?" asked the Rocket. "Why would I carry a gun?"

"Well, you're a-a bad guy, aren't you?" Arden asked.

The Rocket shrugged. "That's all very subjective, isn't it?" he asked. "Besides, do you have to be a bad guy to carry a gun in the first place? And does it follow that carrying a gun makes you bad?"

"I… Wha…? I mean, I wasn't—I just thought…" Arden sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Look, nevermind, nevermind…"

A silence settled over the pair as they watched one another.

After some time, Arden asked, "What were you reaching for?"

"Huh?"

"You moved your hand toward your belt—"

"Pokeball," said the Rocket grunt. "I thought we were going to battle."

"Oh," said Arden. "…can we not? My pokemon aren't very good."

The Rocket shrugged on shoulder. "Well, I mean, I guess I don't have to battle if you don't try to stop us. You're just a kid, after all," he said.

"Stop you? Well, what are you doing?"

"I dunno. Looking for fossils or something like that… I wasn't really paying attention."

Arden raised an eyebrow. "You're looking for fossils? What are you guys, evil archaeologists?"

"What? No! We're pokemon thieves!"

"…so you're _stealing_ fossils, then?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that sounds… right…"

"Fossils that are just laying around in this mountain?"

"…yeah."

"Fossils of _dead _pokemon?"

The Rocket grunt was silent. "Maybe—maybe I'm remembering our mission wrong," he said. "Uh, but, we're, um, pokemon thieves. No doubt about that."

"Are you going to try to steal_ my_ pokemon?" asked Arden.

"Well… Yours? I don't know… You did just tell me they weren't very good, after all," he said. "And I kind of like you. You remind me of a young me."

"Okay, I can't be more than six, maybe seven years younger than you."

"Fine, a young_er _me."

"Are you calling me a criminal?"

The Rocket shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe someday," he said. "If you work hard and assert yourself, that is."

"…uh, thanks…?"

"No problem," he said, smiling in a way that Arden found genuinely charming.

They settled into a silence again, staring at one another. "Can… I go?" asked Arden after a moment.

"Oh, certainly," said the Rocket, stepping out of the way of the narrow pass. Arden squeezed past him. "Be seein' you around…"

"You, too," Arden returned without stopping. He continued down the dim tunnel, until the grunt disappeared into the shadows completely. He rubbed his arm as he walked, feeling a lump that had resulted from his fall. He turned a corner, into a smaller cavern with an exit at one end, through which light was streaming.

With a light-hearted laugh, Arden ran toward the shimmering light, even though his whole body ached. As he was nearing the light, a fist thrown from the shadows struck him in the face, knocking him hard to the side. Arden fell to the ground with a yelp, confused and rather stunned. He saw a boy, a few years older than him, in glasses and a fancy button up shirt, standing over him with an expression of great anger. He hit hard for a nerd, in Arden's opinion.

"Wha—" began Arden, holding his battered cheek bone gingerly.

"These fossils are mine!" shouted the nerd. "I found them! You can't have them! You'll have to get them over my dead body!"

"I don't… I don't even want any fossils," mumbled Arden. "…you punched me in the face, man…"

"Alright, fine! We'll battle! If I win, I'll share my fossils!"

"Keep them," said Arden. "I don't even want one."

"Go Koffing!"

"Oh. So we're going to fight anyway, huh?" asked Arden with a sigh. "Why do none of you people listen to me? …alright. Go, Fang!

They tossed out their pokeballs, Arden sending out the zubat he'd caught. It screeched and wheeled around the enemy koffing.

"You named your zubat Fang?" asked the nerd.

"Yeah, why not?" asked Arden. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"No, no…" said the nerd, pushing up his glassed."Just seems a bit cliché, don't you think?"

Arden gritted his teeth. "No, I don't think."

"Obviously," said the nerd. "Koffing! Use smog!"

"Koff!" shouted the repugnant pokemon. Thick yellow clouds issued forth from the enormous pores covering its body. A jet of smog struck Fang, and he screeched and wheeled around, pained.

"Fang, use bite!"

The zubat screeched, shaking off the pain from the koffing's attack before diving at it. Fang bit the enemy koffing, causing it to cry out in pain and recoil.

"Good!" shouted Arden, raising a fist. "Now use astonish!"

The zubat attacked, leaving the koffing momentarily stunned. "Leech life!" Arden told Fang. The pokemon screeched in compliance before swooping again at the koffing and biting it before turning and flying up out of reach.

"Koooff," mumbled the gaseous pokemon, its eyes rolling back in its head.

"Koffing, return!" shouted the nerd, concern showing in his voice as he held up his pokemon's ball. "Fine, I'll let you have one of my fossils. But only one! No being greedy!"

"I never wanted any of your fossils to begin with," Arden said, holding up his own pokemon's ball.

The nerd held up two rocks to him. "We each get one," he said.

Arden sighed. "Fine then. That one," he said, randomly pointing to one of the artefacts.

"Oh, I wanted that one," muttered the nerd. All the same, he handed it to Arden, who took it without any sort of glee and slipped it into his pack. "Wait—you're putting a priceless ancient fossil into your bag?"

"I put everything into my bag. Makes it easier to carry," said Arden. The nerd stared at him in disbelief. Arden turned toward the mouth of the cave. "I have a date with some good old fashioned sunlight and fresh air. See you later, cave dweller."

"I can't believe I lost to you," mumbled the nerd, shaking his head and turning away.

Arden shrugged. "Yeah, me neither."


	14. Route 4

The air outside Mt. Moon was warm and fresh, and smelled faintly of grass and earth. Arden sat down on a ledge outside of the mouth of the cave and rested his battered body beneath the clear blue sky. He lay back in the lush grass with a contented sigh and closed his eyes. As he was drifting off to sleep, he heard footsteps approaching. Feigning sleep, he gave no indication he was aware of the other's presence, hoping who ever it was wouldn't bother him.

"Excuse me!" shouted a deep, masculine voice directly over him.

Arden made no answer.

"Excuse me, little boy! I would like to show you the power of the Mega Punch!"

Arden cracked his eyes open and looked up at the man—a hulking creature in a martial arts get-up. "Is that a threat?" he asked weakly. "If this is your grass, sir, I'll move. I mean, I don't want any trouble. Particularly the sort that ends with me being badly beaten."

The man threw his head back and laughed heartily. "No, no! I can teach your pokemon the powerful and graceful move Mega Punch!" he said.

"Why do you shout all your sentences?" asked Arden slowly sitting up.

"I'm excited about Mega Punch!"

"Ha! Mega Punch?" asked another man coming up to him. Arden noted that he, too, was dressed as a martial artist. In fact, he was identical to the first man. "Little boy, I can teach your pokemon Mega Kick! A truly worthy move!"

"I'm not that little," muttered Arden.

"Little boy! Do not be taken in by this degenerate! Mega Punch is the ultimate move!"

"Ha! If by ultimate you mean weak and unwieldy then that is a correct assumption! Mega Kick is far superior!"

"Ha! If by far superior you mean clumsy and impotent then that is a correct assumption! Mega Punch is the best move!"

"Mega Kick is much more the best move!"

"Mega Punch!"

"Mega Kick!"

"Mega Punch!" The first man threw a powerful punch at the second.

"Mega Kick!" The second man simultaneously threw a powerful kick at the first.

Their attacks met with a loud '_crunch_' and they broke apart, both apparently unhurt by the conflict. They turned, both, to Arden, who was disappointed they had not forgotten about them in their clash.

"Little boy!" they shouted in unison.

Arden groaned. "What…?" he mumbled weakly.

"Which do you think is superior?" asked the second man. "You like Mega Kick! I'm right, aren't I?"

"Don't be foolish!" said the first man. "He is very much enamoured of Mega Punch! Aren't I right?"

"Idiot! The little boy obviously has more sense than that! He likes Mega Kick!"

"I'm really not a little boy," said Arden quietly, fully aware they weren't listening. "I'm twelve… I mean, that's not _little_…"

"Idiot?! Only a moron would think that Mega Kick is superior! Mega Punch is the superior move, and the little boy agrees!"

"Moron?! Hardly! Mega Kick is superior to Mega Punch in every and all ways!"

"Any Neanderthal could see Mega Punch is far better and most amazing!"

"Any mongoloid could tell that it is Mega Kick which is most amazing and far better!"

Arden sighed at what a pointless argument, and wondered vaguely how closely the two men were related. They _must_ be related, after all. As silently as he could, he stood up and slinked away down the path. Behind him the men were still arguing loudly, every now and then exchanging blows.

"I hate this place," mumbled Arden as soon as he was far enough away from them that he couldn't be heard. He kicked at a rock. "Stupid Kanto, full of stupid people and stupid pokemon… Ah! Speaking of…"

He unhitched Gentry's ball from his belt and looked at it as he walked. "I need to… talk to him, or something," he said. "After that complete failure of a battle… I mean, I guess I'd have been to scared to fight if I were suddenly put up against a blood-sucking bat in a dark cave with someone I'd never met commanding me…"

He paused on the wide dirt path looking around to make sure there was no one around who would bother him. Seeing only pleasant grassy ledges and flowers, he held out the pokeball. "Come on out, Gentry!" he said. A flash of light emitted from the ball, leaving the nidoran on the path in front of him.

"Niido," chirped the pokemon as he looked around. Seeing Arden, he flattened his ears and crouched, looking terrified.

"It's alright," said Arden, kneeling down. "I'm your trainer now, Gentry."

He slowly reached out one hand to the little pink pokemon, fully aware that the last time he reached out his hand to a cute and seemingly harmless pokemon it hadn't ended so well.

"Ran," said Gentry, taking a step backward.

"It's fine. I'm a good guy. Promise."

"Niiidoran. _Ni_do."

Arden sighed and sat all the way down. "Look, I need to talk to you about maybe battling when I, uh, put you in a battle."

"Nido?" asked the pokemon, tilting its head to one side.

"Look, I know you miss Iris, but—"

"Niiiiidoran!" shouted the nidoran, pawing at the ground, his ears perking up at the name of his former trainer. "Nido nido niiiiidooo!"

"Yeah, I'm, uh, I'm sure Iris is a good girl," said Arden rubbing the back of his head. "But, uh, she's not here. We traded, you see, so you, uh, you belong to me now…"

"Niii? Nido!" Gentry said, shaking his head. "Ran nido ni!"

"Uh… oookay," said Arden slowly. "I have to tell you, I don't understand that…"

Tears were forming in the nidoran's eyes. His ears drooped. "Niido."

"It's okay, though," said Arden, standing up. "Look, it's all going to be okay."

"Nido?"

Arden bent down and put his hands on Gentry's sides. "Well, come on, you," he said. "I think we just need to spend more time together, and then you'll be able to forget about Iris."

Gentry flattened his ears. "Ni. Nidoran." He didn't _want _to forget about Iris.

However, he didn't struggle when Arden picked him up and held him carefully to his chest. "You're point," Arden observed. "This is… kinda hard with all these spines of yours… Jeez, do you really need so many spines?"

"Ran."

"Yeah, I guess," mumbled Arden, though he wasn't really sure what Gentry was saying. He carried the pokemon along the wide, sunny path, pausing briefly when Cerulean City came into view. It was a larger city than Pewter, with a wide river bounding one side of it. Gentry looked cheered up by the sight of it, but Arden cared only to see if he could spot the gym. When he did, he started blandly and one-minded toward it.


	15. Cerulean City

Arden walked along the cobblestone path into Cerulean City, cradling Gentry in his arms. The pokemon was melancholy, and didn't respond to Arden's attempts to start a conversation. Each time he spoke, the nidoran only sighed and gazed off into the distance.

"Gentry, you're a real downer," Arden said.

The nidoran sighed and lay limply in his arms.

Arden scowled. "Oh—get over it already. You were traded. Stop being a big baby about it!"

One of Gentry's ears quivered slightly, but otherwise he made no answer.

Arden shook his head, giving up the futile conversation. As he entered the city, he noticed two trainers, about his own age, battling in front of a bridge and paused to watch them. A boy in a hat was commanding a bulbasaur against a spiky haired boy with a charmander. Arden watched the pokemon exchange a few blows, and sighed. "I wanted a charmander," he said. "Looks like that kid there's the reason I didn't get it…"

He turned away, trying to hide his jealousy. "Come on, Gentry. Let's go to the pokemon center," said Arden, stomping off toward the red-roofed building.

Still fuming with jealousy, he entered the center and trudged up to the counter, setting Gentry and his pokeballs on it without a word before slinking off to sit in a corner. The nurse blinked and watched him sit down before picking up the pokeballs and patting Gentry on the head.

"Aw, your trainer in a bad mood, sweetie?" she asked him.

"Nido," said Gentry nodding.

"Poor thing. That stressing you out, sweetie?"

"Nido."

"Aw," said the nurse, picking him up and stroking him. "Well don't you worry 'bout it, sweetie. Here, why don't you go into your ball, and we'll run you through the healing machine, and I'm sure you'll be in better spirits after that. That sound good to you?"

"Niiido," said Gentry, nuzzling the woman.

Arden watched them from his seat before crossing his arms and looking away, even more upset than he was before. After a moment, the doors of the Pokemon Center opened and the spiky haired boy entered, mumbling to himself, and approached the counter. Arden watched the spiky haired trainer give his pokemon to the nurse before heading over the same corner he was in. The spiky haired trainer sat down a couple seats away from Arden and crossed his arms.

"Hey, you're from Pallet Town, right?" asked Arden after a moment.

"Yeah, I'm from Pallet Town," the boy answered looking at Arden. "What's it to you, huh? Are you the Hometown Police, or something?"

"I saw you fighting with your charmander outside," said Arden.

"Oh yeah? You saw that?" asked the boy.

"Some of it," said Arden. "Did you win?"

The spiky haired trainer stood up. "I think my pokemon are healed. I have places to be, so that I can wait for my rival, Red, to show up and humiliate him," he said. "Smell you later, kid."

Arden watched him go to the counter and retrieve his pokemon before leaving the Center. "Smell you later?" repeated Arden, cocking his head to one side. "What a _stupid _thing to say. I mean, I smell pretty darn good for someone who's been traveling practically nonstop for weeks."

"Excuse me!" said the nurse to Arden. "Your pokemon are fully healed."

"Nido!" shouted Gentry from the counter, where the nurse was rubbing him behind his ears. He looked visibly happier.

Arden went to the counter and retrieved his pokeballs before picking Gentry up. "Thanks," he mumbled.

"We hope to see you again," said the nurse with a polite bow.

Arden raised one eyebrow. "You do?"

"Mm hm," said the nurse, smiling for the sake of politeness.

"You hope to see me again at what is the pokemon equivalent of an emergency room? Really?"

"Ah... Y-yes, we, um…"

"So," said Arden. "What you're basically saying, is you hope my pokemon get wounded badly enough that I return here to seek medical attention for them?"

The nurse rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, when you say it that way…"

"Unbelievable," mumbled Arden, walking towards the doors. They opened in front of him smoothly. "Simply unbelievable."

He left the pokemon center and paused to look around. The gym was a large building and very close by. It was a short walk for Arden, and he stood outside of the doors looking up at the sheer size of the building. As he admired it, the door opened and hit him, knocking him down. He landed on Gentry, who yelped and thrashed about. With a pained moan, Arden sat up at the person who had opened the door. It was the boy in the hat he'd seen earlier—a fact he might've been more surprised about if he hadn't been distracted with the falling. The boy offered him a hand to help him up.

"That's fine, I can get up on my own," said Arden, and he proceeded to do so. "That was, uh, my bad. I probably shouldn't have been standing there."

The trainer in the hat pointed to Arden's chest and he looked down to see his shirt had been torn and he'd been cut. "Oh, that's why that stings so much," said Arden. "I must've cut myself on one of my nidoran's spines when I fell…"

The boy in the hat frowned, but said nothing.

Arden picked up Gentry. "You must be Red, am I right?" asked Arden. The boy nodded. "I met a kid who said he was your rival. That must be cool, having a rival…"

Red shrugged.

"So, you fought at the gym here?" asked Arden unevenly. He'd been battered so much in the last few hours that he was starting to feel a little woozy.

Red nodded.

"You win?"

Red nodded again.

"You must be a pretty talented trainer, huh?" Arden asked. Red shrugged, blushing slightly. "You're, uh… hold on a sec, I'm feelin' kinda… Kinda funky… Nnnm. You're going to try to head to the, um, pokemon league?"

Red nodded, looking kind of concerned. He put his hand on Arden's shoulder to steady him.

"I'm, uh, I'm fine. Don't worry 'bout it. I just haven't eaten lately and I've, ah, I've been falling down. A lot." Arden turned toward the gym. "I should… I should go, uh, go fight this gym leader. See you, uh, later, Red."

Still looking concerned, Red nodded and started off down the street toward the pokemon center. Arden pushed open the doors of the gym and entered it silently and unsteadily.


	16. Cerulean City Gym

Entering the Cerulean gym, Arden saw that it appeared as an enormous swimming pool with a looping catwalk above the water, like a dock. At the end of the path, a young woman with boyish orange hair was sitting with her feet hanging over the edge, into the water. Arden started toward her, feeling sluggish. As he stepped onto the planks of the dock, an older boy swam up to him.

"Hey, there—you don't look so good, kid," said the swimmer, leaning against the dock. "You're all sweaty and pale."

"It's, uh, it's kind of hot in here," said Arden, rubbing his forehead.

"Ran," chirped Gentry.

The swimmer stared at him for a moment. "Uh, alright...," he said. "It's my job to weed out the unworthy from facing Misty. So, we're going to have to battle."

"Y-yeah, that's, uh… alright," said Arden unevenly. "Go—uh—Gimpy!"

He tossed out his pokeball weakly while the swimmer released his pokemon—a horsea—into the water. The horsea whinnied, squirting a few bubbles into the air.

"Squirtle!" shouted Gimpy, raising one of his little fists.

"Geddem, Gimp," said Arden, breathing heavily. "Uh, use, uh… bub..ble…"

Gimpy glanced back at him. "Squirt?" said the pokemon before looking to Gentry. "Squirtle squirt?"

"Nido," said Gentry, shrugging.

The squirtle turned back toward the horsea and fired a stream of bubbles at it with little effect. "Horsea, use leer!" said the swimmer.

"Seeea!" shouted the horsea, screwing up its face and glaring at Gimpy. Gimpy shivered despite himself, and took a step back.

"You gonna…gonna taketha from…tha…," mumbled Arden, almost completely incoherently. "Gim…use…"

He staggered forward and, dropping Gentry, fell over the side of the dock, unconscious, sinking into the water. "Squirt!" shouted Gimpy, running as fast to the edge of the dock as his hobbled foot would allow, Gentry right behind him. The squirtle leapt into the water after his trainer.

He could see Arden in the dimness of the pool, drifting downward. Gimpy kicked his warped legs as fast as he could, but could not catch up to him. The pool was deep and dark and the squirtle was losing sight of the boy. "Squirtle!" he moaned, swimming as fast as he could, tears forming in his eyes as he realized it wouldn't be fast enough to save his trainer. He pushed himself harder and harder, determined to save Arden, though his muscles ached and stung under the strain.

Above the water, Gentry paced the deck. "Ran! Nidoran!" he shouted to the swimmer and his pokemon.

"His pokemon dove in to get him—I'm sure that squirtle's faster than I could ever be, and stronger than Horsea," the swimmer said, trying to calm the nidoran down. "Your trainer's going to be fine."

"Nido! Nidoran!" shouted Gentry, slamming his paws on the dock. He twitched his ears and looked around. No one in the gym seemed concerned, or willing to help. The little pink pokemon paced the dock before making up his mind. He turned toward the water and jumped in with a cry of, "Nidoo!"

Gentry landed in the water with a splash and started paddling downwards, but his tiny feet were poor for conveying him through the water. He flapped his ears to give him a boost, and it worked somewhat. He couldn't see a thing in the water, and he wanted badly to clench his eyes shut. All the nidoran could make out was a faint dark blue shape which seemed insufferably far away.

"What does he think he can do?" said the swimmer. "That stupid nidoran—he'll drown! Horsea, bring him back up here!"

"Seeeea!" shouted the pokemon dutifully, diving beneath the water.

Swiftly, the horsea moved through the pool, down to Gentry, who was running out of breath as he worked against his own buoyancy. The horsea darted in front of him, pushing him back up to the surface. Gentry flailed his arms in protest, but the other pokemon took no notice. It brought him above the water and tossed him up on the deck, where he collapsed, sputtering for air, tears welling up in his eyes.

After a moment, the familiar form of Arden broke the surface. He was unconscious, being carried by Gimpy who was beneath him, unseen. "Nido!" shouted Gentry, leaping to his feet and perking his ears forward.

"See? What did I tell you, little buddy? Your trainer's alright," said the swimmer grabbing hold of Arden and pulling him onto the docks. Gimpy bobbed in the water, his long furry ears perked in anticipation. "Wartortle…" he mumbled, as the swimmer leaned over the unconscious Arden, checking him out.

"He needs medical attention," said the swimmer, turning to Gimpy. "Do you know anyone who could help him?"

"I can," said a man at the dock's edge. The swimmer looked and his jaw dropped slightly to see a grunt from Team Rocket. The swimmer reached for a pokeball, but the Rocket held up his hand. "No, it's alright. I'm not here on, ah, 'business' or anything like that. I'm what you might call an acquaintance of the kid here. I can get him some medical help. You know, for the drowning and the poisoning…"

"Poisoning?"

"Yeah. You know, the reason he stumbled into the pool in the first place?" asked the Rocket. "Sheesh, you're quite dense, aren't you? I mean, all sweaty and uncoordinated."

"I—I thought it might've been something like that," murmured the swimmer sheepishly.

"Right," said the grunt, approaching. He picked up Arden. "If you don't mind, I need to get this guy some medical assistance.

"Oh, yeah, sure," said the swimmer. "See you around."

The Rocket smiled. "You better hope not."

~.~.~

A/N: I want to thank every one that reviews. I'm really glad to have your interest, and I appreciate every review I get.

I drew a few quick sketches related to this story, which you can see on my photobucket—which is [dot]com/albums/a295/fire-rabbit_of_hearts/ . Just, uh, replace that [dot] with a period. However, those pictures contain roster spoilers, so be warned. Also, if you go flipping through the pages of my album, I will warn that some pictures may not be suitable for the extremely young and/or sheltered.


	17. Route 25

It was dark all around Arden when he awoke, feeling as though he'd been punched in the lungs and had his stomach turned inside out. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his head. As he looked around, he found he was in a bed in a little room with a rocking chair and a little window with the shade drawn down. He stood up and—fighting the urge to just sit down again—he went to the window and drew the shades out of the way. Outside of the window he could see a pleasant little pond in a green yard with mountains and trees beyond it. "Whose house is this?" he asked hoarsely, turning away from the window.

He reached to his belt to check his pokemon, but his searching fingers found no pokeballs there. All the color drained out of Arden's face.

He wasn't quite steady enough to run, but he tried to do so anyway, and ended up falling down with a spectacular _'thud'_. The boy scrambled to his feet and made his way, shakily, toward the door. As he reached for the knob, the door opened, and he came face to face with the Rocket grunt.

"You!" said Arden. "I know you! I met you in Mt. Moon!"

"Ah, you're up," said the grunt. "I wondered when you would be."

"You stole my pokemon, didn't you?!"

The grunt raised one eyebrow. "If I stole your pokemon, why would I bring you to my home, or check to make sure you wake up?"

Arden paused for a moment, biting his lip. "I… I dunno," he admitted finally. "You said that you steal pokemon, so I figured…"

"Prejudice is ugly," said the grunt, wagging a finger at him.

"I lost my pokemon," said Arden, motioning to his belt.

The Rocket stepped back, out of the doorway. "Oh, no worries," he said. "You didn't lose them. I just let them out of their pokeballs. I figured they must've been cooped up and I wasn't sure how long you'd be out."

Arden followed him out of the room, into a slightly larger living room. "So, what exactly happened to me?" asked Arden as they made their way to the front door.

"You accidentally poisoned yourself. Or, rather, your nidoran accidentally did," the grunt told him. "Then you nearly drowned."

"How do you know this?"

"I was on a job in Cerulean city. I saw you fall on your pokemon, so I suspected you might've been poisoned. So, I followed you into the gym to make sure you were okay."

"But… why?"

The grunt opened the door, revealing a lush stretch of green grass, dotted with tree stumps. All of Arden's pokemon—bar his magikarp—were frolicking in the grass, along with two pokemon he didn't recognize: a sandshrew and an ekans. Fang darted through the air screeching and flying in circles as, below him, the others dashed through the grass, in what appeared to be a game of tag. Or, possibly, it wasn't a game and they were simply trying to get as far from Cruelty as possible.

"Where's Flop?" asked Arden.

"Is that the magikarp's name?" asked the grunt. Arden nodded. "He's in the pond over there.

Gimpy looked up from their game. "Tortle!" he exclaimed, turning and limping as fast as he could toward Arden. "Wartort!"

"G-gimp, is that you?" asked Arden, raising his eyebrows. "How did you—when did you—you evolved?"

"Wartortle!" said Gimpy, grinning. His foot caught on a clump of weeds and he promptly fell on his face. "…tort."

"So, are those your pokemon?" asked Arden, pointing to the ekans and the sandshrew.

The grunt nodded. "That's right. The ekans is Nathair, and the sandshrew is Bruno. Say hi, boys."

"Ekans."

"Shrew!"

"Hey-ya," said Arden as Gimpy reached him.

"My name's Dixie, by the way," said the grunt. "I don't think I ever properly introduced myself."

Arden raised an eyebrow at him. "You're named Dixie?" he asked. "Isn't that, I dunno, a girl's name?"

The Rocket narrowed his eyes. "No, it's not," he said.

"I, uh, didn't mean to insult you," said Arden. "It's just… ah, nevermind. I should be going. I have, uh, gym battles to lose and whatnot." He paused. "Where are my pokemon's balls?"

Rocket Grunt Dixie reached into a pocket and pulled out some pokeballs, which he handed to Arden. "Here. Be seeing you," said the Rocket.

"Yeah," said Arden, recalling his pokemon into their balls. "And, uh, thanks for, um, saving me."

Dixie smiled before withdrawing into his house. Arden went around the side of the building, to the pond, where his magikarp was swimming swiftly through the water. Nathair and Bruno watched Arden from afar as he knelt next to the pond.

"Hey, Flop," said Arden, wiggling his fingers in the water. "It's time to go."

"Karp karp karp," said the pokemon stupidly, swimming in circles.

Arden frowned, not sure if it was an act of rebellion, or just an inability on the pokemon's part to understand him.

"Whatever," murmured Arden, holding up Flop's pokeball. With a flash of light, the device drew the magikarp into it. The boy stood up and returned to the front of the building before pausing and turning to Dixie's pokemon. "Do you guys know which way Cerulean city is from here?"

"Shrew!" shouted Bruno, nodding. He motioned with one stout arm to a thin path leading down the mountain. "Sandshrew shrew!"

"That leads straight down there?"

Bruno and Nathair nodded.

"Alright, uh, thanks," said Arden starting toward it. The ekans and sandshrew watched him for a while before returning to their spirited frolicking.

The path curved around the mountains, through a quiet, serene bit of landscape. It wasn't very long at all before Arden reached a large body of water. The path disappeared beside a small cottage on a cape overlooking both the water and Cerulean city.

"Excuse me," said a voice from the doorway of the cottage. Arden turned and was startled to see a cleffairy standing there, addressing him.

"Ah! Black magic!"

"No, no, no," said the cleffairy. "I'm a scientist. I accidentally mixed myself up with a pokemon. Could you give me a hand?"

Arden frowned. "I don't know. My mom told me never to trust a talking cleffairy."

"That's… oddly specific advice."

"All her advice was," said Arden. "Ah… What do you need me to do?"

"I just need you to press a button on my PC to initiate the cell separator," said the scientist, withdrawing into the cottage. Arden followed him inside. "Wait until I get into the machine, and then just press it."

"Right," said Arden, as the faux-pokemon scrambled into a large machine that took up one side of the building. Arden activated the device and it made a humming sound for a moment. Then, a door opened at the other end of the machine and a young man walked out.

"Oh, thank you," he said. "I'm Bill, by the way. I designed the trainer PC system."

"Oh," said Arden. He looked at the door on the machine that Bill had gone in. "What happened to the pokemon?"

"Pokemon?"

"You said you mixed yourself up with a pokemon, didn't you?" asked Arden. "It should've come apart from you when the separator ran, right? So… where is it?"

Bill rubbed the back of his neck. "Don't worry about that," he said. "Here, I want to thank you for helping me. So, I'd like you to have these tickets for the SS Anne."

"Uh, thanks," Arden said distractedly, taking the tickets as he continued to stare at the cell separator. "Bye, I guess."

"Pleasant day to you," said Bill, smiling. Arden didn't like that smile one bit. After all, just what had he done with that pokemon?


	18. Cerulean City Gym II

The trainers along the path back to Cerulean City wanted to battle Arden. Everyone always wanted to battle, Arden thought to himself. He stopped to battle them, taking it as a chance to exercise Gentry and Fang, and test out Gimpy's new capabilities. While battling with Gimpy, he was surprised to find the pokemon knew an attack he'd never seen.

"What was that? Water gun?" asked Arden, upon seeing Gimpy shoot a straight beam of water out of his mouth. "When did you learn water gun?"

"Tort," said Gimpy, shrugging.

"So, what, you're just not going to tell me when you know new attacks?" asked Arden crossing his arms. "Am I going to have to guess, or—"

"Excuse me," said the camper he was battling. "Can we, uh, can you just pay attention to the fight?"

"Oh, right, right. My bad."

"Pidgey, use whirlwind!" said the camper to his pokemon. His pidgey cooed, and issued forth a gust which swept Gimpy's already unstable feet out from under him. He flew backward, waving his arms, hitting Arden square in the chest. Trainer and wartortle fell to the ground, the former landing hard while cushioning the fall of the latter. The harsh wind dislodged a pokeball from Arden's belt, causing it to fly up into the air and release the pokemon that was inside. With a bright light, Fang appeared as the wind died down.

"How on earth—eh, alright, whatever," said Arden, shaking his head as he pushed Gimpy off himself. "Fang, bite!"

With a screech, the zubat swooped down at the pidgey, and bit it soundly in the wing. The pidgey screamed and thrashed. "Pidgey—use gust!" said the camper.

With a chirp of compliance, the tiny bird pokemon took flight before wheeling on Fang and beating its wings at him. The turbulence knocked the zubat back some.

"Oh, don't take that from it!" shouted Arden, shaking his fist. "Bite it! Bite it, bite it, bite it! And don't stop until it can't move any more!"

"Wartortle," mumbled Gimpy, looking sideways at Arden.

"Shut it, you."

The zubat and the pidgey exchanged blow after blow in the air until—finally—the pidgey fell limp and hurdled out of the sky. The camper returned it to its pokeball before it hit the ground. Grudgingly, he said to Arden, "You win, I guess."

"Ah, yeah!" said Arden, thrusting out a hand. "Pay up!"

Muttering, the camper handed him some money. Arden put the money in his pocket at the camper pointed up above them. "Hey—what's with your pokemon?" he asked.

"Huh? Fang?" asked Arden, looking up, as well. A light was coming from the pokemon as he circled above them. "…what is he doing?"

"Wartortle!" exclaimed Gimpy, waving his arms.

There was a brilliant flash above them. When the light cleared, Arden's zubat was a golbat. Arden's eyes widened. "Fang! You evolved, too?!" he said as the golbat swooped down and perched on his arm. "Well, all right! Take note, other pokemon of my party—_that_'s how you earn my respect!"

Grinning, Arden turned and continued along the path to Cerulean city. He reached the town and made his way directly for the gym. As soon as he entered it, the same swimmer from before came up to the dock. "Well, hey there, guy!" he said. "You're looking much better."

"I feel better," said Arden. "I was poisoned. …do I have to battle you again?"

"Yeah. You didn't win last time," said the swimmer.

Arden frowned. "Well, but I didn't lose."

"But you didn't win."

"Why do I have to win?" asked Arden. "That's not fair!"

"What do you mean that's not fair?"

"I mean, it's not fair that I have to battle again just because I didn't win," said Arden. "I mean, I didn't even lose!"

"Look, can't we just battle? I mean, I'm not letting you past here unless you win, so…"

Arden sighed heavily. "Yeah, whatever."

"Go, Horsea!"

"Get 'em, Fang!" shouted Arden. With a screech, the golbat launched himself forward. "Use supersonic!"

Fang let out a high-pitched screech at the horsea, which seemed to make it disoriented. It floundered in the water, twisting its fins around in the water uselessly. "Bubblebeam, Horsea!" shouted the swimmer. The horsea fired a stream of bubbles up at Fang, but he dodged around them before swooping down and—under Arden's command—biting the horsea. The horsea tried to attack again, but ended up hurting itself.

"Fang, use bite!"

"Horsea, smokescreen!"

"Fang, astonish!"

The golbat made to attack and missed.

"Horsea, use bubble!"

"Fang, leech life!"

"Bubble, Horsea!"

In its confusion, the horsea hurt itself. With a whimper, the pokemon fainted, sinking gently into the water. The swimmer recalled it to its pokeball. "There, you won," he said.

"I won?"

"You won."

"Awesome!"

"Yeah, but you ought to be aware that Misty is much tougher than me," said the swimmer.

Arden frowned and returned Fang to his pokeball. "Really?" he asked, disappointed. "_How_ much tougher?"

"Lots tougher. She's a gym leader."

Arden crossed his arms. "…but she uses water types, right?"

"Nope. Just thought that calling her self a water-type trainer and making the gym a big swimming pool would throw people off her trail. Looks like it worked," said the swimmer dryly.

Arden shot him a glare. "Don't be such a sore loser," he mumbled, continuing along the dock. He approached the red haired girl at the end of the docks. She looked up as he neared, but didn't stand. "What do you want?" she asked, furrowing her brow.

"I'm… I'm a challenger," said Arden.

"A little boy like you?" asked Misty. "Cute."

Arden scowled. "I'm not a little boy! I'm twelve! I mean—how old are _you_?!"

"That's not the point here," said Misty. She pointed at Gimpy. "Is that your wartortle?"

"Yeah."

"He looks kinda weak."

"Well that's because he is," said Arden. "But I won't stand to have you insult him like that! Battle me!"

"My policy is an all-out offensive with water pokemon," said Misty. "You know your wartortle won't be any good against me, right?"

"Yeah, I know," said Arden. He held up a pokeball. "I've got a different pokemon I'm going to use."

"Okay. Not like you're going to win, but okay," said Misty. "I'll battle you."

"Of course you'll battle me. You're a freakin' gym leader!—It's your _job!_"


	19. Cerulean City Gym III

"Go, Staryu!" said Misty, tossing out a pokeball. The pokeball landed on the deck, releasing the star-shaped pokemon it held into the water beside it.

"Urg. That thing's hideous," said Arden. "Look at it—it doesn't have a face!"

"Staryu doesn't need a face," said Misty. "It's the starshape pokemon."

"But it's like… a sentient creature without a face!" said Arden. "That's macabre!"

"It is not," said Misty, putting her hands on her hips. "Send out your pokemon!"

Arden reached to his belt. "Yeah, yeah," he mumbled. Gimpy grabbed his hand. "What?"

"War! Wartortle!" said Gimpy, moving his trainer's hand away from Cruelty's ball.

Arden looked at him flatly. "He's going to have to come out sooner or later, you know."

"Tortle."

"Urg. Fine," said Arden, seizing another pokeball. "Go, Gentry!"

With a flash, the nidoran appeared on the dock. "Nido!" shouted Gentry, looking around.

"Staryu, use water pulse!" said Misty.

With a grunt, the staryu shot a blast of water at Gentry, which struck the poison pokemon, balling him over. With a yelp of pain, the nidoran hit the dock and rolled.

"Gentry, get up! This is no time for weakness!" said Arden, kicking the pokemon. "Use double kick!"

Misty raised her eyebrows. "You treat your pokemon like _that_?"

Gentry ran up to the edge of the platform before leaping off it, and pummeling the staryu with his back feet. Staryu grunted, but showed little sign of being more than mildly annoyed by the attack.

"Watergun, Staryu," said Misty.

A beam of water shot out the tip of one of the staryu's points, and hit Gentry hard in the face. With another yelp, Gentry flew into the water, unconscious.

"Jeez," mumbled Arden, recalling the nidoran. "Sorry, Gimp—I'm gonna have to use him."

"Tortle!" objected Gimpy, grabbing his arm.

Arden pushed him away before grabbing up the pokeball from his hip. "Go, Cruelty!"

"Wartortle!" screamed Gimpy, smacking Arden on the arm as the pikachu emerged from his pokeball.

"Quiet down," said Arden, hitting the wartortle back. "Sheesh, you really are annoying. Cruelty—use quick attack!"

"Cha!" shouted Cruelty, leaping toward the staryu. He smacked it with his tail before balling up his little fist and punching it. The staryu grunted as Cruelty used it as a spring board to leap back onto the dock. "Piika!"

"Shake it off, Staryu—you're doing fine," said Misty. "Water Pulse!"

Staryu shot a blast of water at Cruelty, which he dodged without trouble. "Chaa!"

"Thundershock," ordered Arden.

"Pikachu!" shouted Cruelty, his cheeks crackling with electricity. He leapt forward in another quick attack, repeatedly smacking the staryu before leaping back onto the dock. "Cha!"

"Good job, Cruelty," said Arden. "Not—uh, not what I commanded, but good attack!"

The staryu moaned and sank down in the water. "That's enough, Staryu," said Misty, returning it to its pokeball. "You tried your best. Your turn now, Starmie!"

The young gym leader tossed out another pokeball, releasing the purple star pokemon onto the deck. It grunted, its gem flashing. Cruelty flattened his ears along his back and bared his teeth, his cheeks still crackling with unused electricity. "Kaa chu," growled Cruelty, the fur on his back raising on end.

"Okay, hit it with a thundershock," said Arden.

Cruelty launched himself forward, slamming himself into the starmie. The starmie grunted and recoiled slightly.

"That's… not thundershock," said Arden.

"You call yourself a trainer?" asked Misty. "Your pokemon doesn't even listen to you!"

"He does too! …sometimes. Most of the time."

"Cha!" shouted Cruelty.

"Starmie, this is an easy fight," said Misty, rubbing one of the pokemon's points. "Water pulse!"

The starmie fired a blast of water at the pikachu. Cruelty tried to dodge, but wasn't quite quick enough to get out of the way. The water struck his back, sending him rolling across the deck. Cruelty jumped to his feet, growling angrily as electricity crackled all over his body. "Pika pikaaa!"

"You deserved that," said Arden. "Not listening to my orders… Now, use _thundershock_. Not quick attack. Not slam. Thundershock!" He kicked the pikachu at the base of the tail. "Thundershock."

"Piiika," growled Cruelty. He arched his back and released the electricity stored in his cheeks. Lightning shot forth, striking the starmie, causing it to twitch and shake in pain. "Kachu!"

"Starmie!" shouted Misty, hugging the injured pokemon. "Hang in there, and hit that mean little rat with swift!"

The starmie groaned and tried to move only to fall. Misty caught it. "Oh no—you've been paralyzed," she murmured to her pokemon. The gym leader set her starmie back up. "Just hang in there, alright?"

"Hit it again, Cruelty," said Arden. "Thundershock!"

"Cha!" The pikachu released more electricity from its cheeks. The starmie grunted as the electricity ran through its body, before finally collapsing.

"Oh, Starmie!" said Misty, dropping to her knees and cradling the fainted pokemon. "Oh, it's okay… It's okay, you did good. Return, now."

"Alright!" said Arden. "Good job, Cruelty!"

The pikachu slowly turned around to glare at his trainer. The air around him crackled as he showed his fangs to Arden. "Ka… chu… kaaa…"

"W-woah, there, Cruelty," said Arden, holding up his hands and stepping back. "We won. It's, uh, it's… please don't hurt me."

"Pikachu!" shouted Cruelty, leaping at Arden. He bit and scratched at the boy, simultaneously smacking him about the face and neck with his tail and periodically shocking him.

"Tortle! Tortle!" said Gimpy, frantically limping around Arden as the trainer tried to free himself from the pikachu's abuse.

Misty watched, wide eyed, as the trainer fumbled about with one pokemon attacking him and the other one panicking at his feet. She walked up to Arden as he batted at the pikachu attacking him and pulled Cruelty's empty pokeball from his belt before pointing it at the pikachu. "Return," she said. With a flash of light, Cruelty was drawn back into the pokeball.

"Oh, jeez," said Arden, rubbing at the scratches covering his face. "Th-thanks…"

Misty handed him back the pokeball. "Well," she said. "You beat me, so… I guess you're a competent trainer. Of course, what I just saw begs to differ. All the same, the rules of the Pokemon League are clear. Here. This is the Cascade Badge. Technically, you've earned it. Technically."


	20. Route 5

Arden strolled along the edge of Cerulean City, his hands tucked into his pockets, with Gimpy shuffling behind him, huffing. "Tor—tortle," panted the wartortle, dragging his leg.

"Look, it's not my fault I can't carry you any more," said Arden. "You're too big. What do you want me to do about it?"

"Wartortle," mumbled Gimpy, hanging his head. "War tort tortle."

Arden sighed. "You know full well I don't understand any of that."

He made his way along a fence and was surprised, when he turned a corner, to find Dixie leaning against it. "Dixie," said Arden. The Rocket grunt smiled.

"Arden, I heard you got the Cascade Badge. Congratulations," said the grunt. He reached into his pocket. "I actually have something I wanted to give you… Ah, here it is."

Dixie produced a disk from his pocket, which he held out to the boy.

"A CD?" asked Arden taking it. "Uh, I don't really have a player, but… thanks?"

"It's a Technical Machine," Dixie told him. "You can use it to teach your pokemon a move. That one teaches 'dig'."

"…use it how?" Arden asked, raising one eyebrow. "Uh, thanks, Dixie."

The older boy tipped his hat to Arden as he straightened up. "Be seeing you," he said, starting down the path the way Arden had come.

"Bye," said Arden, waving slightly as he turned his feet toward a path leading south. He paused. "…wait, I never told him my name. …did I?"

"Tortle," mumbled Gimpy, shrugging his hidden shoulders.

Arden frowned before continuing along the path. "I'm sure he's not spying on me, or anything like that," he said, climbing down a ledge. "He seems like too nice a guy for something like that." He turned to help Gimpy down the short ledge. Straining a little with the wartortle's weight, he set him down in the tall grass. "Then again, he is a member of Team Rocket, so I guess all the 'nice guy' bets are off, huh?"

He climbed down another ledge before helping Gimpy down it. "On the other hand," he said, pausing to put a finger to his chin. "I still don't know what's so evil about Team Rocket. I mean, according to Dixie, they were just getting fossils in Mt. Moon. He said stealing fossils, but how do you steal a rock from a mountain?"

He slouched. "Urg. I hate hiking. I need to rest," he said, sitting down in the tall grass.

"Wartortle, war," said Gimpy, tugging at his pant leg. He pointed beyond the ledges, at a small building. A sign beside it declared, in blocky letters, 'Pokemon Day Care'.

Arden blinked. "A day care? For pokemon?" he said. "I'm not even entirely sure what that _means_…"

"Tortle!" exclaimed the pokemon, pulling at his arm. "War war war."

Arden sighed and hung his head. "Fine, fine. You're always so annoying," said Arden, standing up. He felt a slight tug on his belt. "Huh? Hold on, Gimp—I think I'm caught on something."

The grass rustled as he looked around. Finding himself unhindered, he paused. "Huh. Weird." The young trainer shrugged it off as best he could and started toward the Day Care building.

He reached the building with Gimpy trailing behind him and entered.

"Hello, and welcome to my Day Care," greeted an elderly man.

"Hi," said Arden, looking around with his hands in his pockets. "So… what do you do here?"

"I look after other people's pokemon for them," he said. "With my special care, pokemon who are too weak to battle can grow."

Arden raised his eyebrows. "Pokemon who are too weak to battle?" he repeated. "Oh—I've got a pokemon like that!"

"If you'd like, I can look after it for you and raise it while you're away," said the elderly man.

Arden smiled. "Yeah! I would like that! Hold on," he said, reaching to his belt and touching his pokeballs one by one. "Let's see here—Gimp's ball, Gentry, Cruelty, Fang… Where's Flop?"

He turned to Gimpy. "Where's Flop?" he demanded of the wartortle.

Gimpy raised his hands. "Tortle wartort, wartortle."

"Well, I had him when we left Dixie's place," said Arden. "Do you remember me having him in Cerulean City?"

"War—wartortle," said Gimpy nodding. The pokemon bit his lower lip. "…tort."

"What was that? That last part? Does that mean you're not sure?" asked Arden, eyes widening. He grabbed hold of Gimpy's shell and shook him. "Tell me you're sure!"

"Warararar," said Gimpy, dizzily, as Arden shook him.

"E-excuse me, young man," said the old Day Car man. "I couldn't help but over hear. You had a pokeball stolen, you say?"

"A pokeball with a pokemon in it!"

"Did you, perchance, stop in the grass just north of this building?"

"Uh—yeah, yeah I sat down there briefly," said Arden. "Why?"

The old man smiled slightly. "There's been a meowth running around these parts, swiping things from travelers," he said.

"A wild pokemon?" asked Arden. He balled up his fists. "That jerk! It stole my magikarp! I'm going to go find it and I'm going to beat the snot out of it! Gimpy, come on!"

He ran to the door and slammed it open and was gone, scrambling up the ledge behind the day care in a minute, Gimpy limping pathetically behind him, trying to catch up. Arden paused on the ledge for Gimpy to catch up. "Sorry—I need to get the drop on this pokemon, Gimp, and you slow me down too much," he said, holding up the wartortle's pokeball. "Return."

With a flash of light, the wartortle withdrew into the pokeball. Arden crouched beside the grass, pondering his next move. "If I were a meowth," he mumbled to himself. "How would I be lured into a trap?"

He crawled through the grass on his knees and elbows. "Meooow," said Arden, trying to coax it out. "Meeeeooooow. Meeow. Meow. Meeeeooow." He sighed, feeling ridiculous. "Meow."

"Meow."

Arden stopped dead in his tracks. "Me-meow?"

"Meow."

He looked around frantically, until he spotted a figure on the ledge above him—a Meowth sitting, watching him with evident amusement. At its feet was a pokeball.

"H-hey, there," said Arden, creeping up to it. "You wanna give me that pokeball, buddy?"

The meowth cocked its head to one side. "Meow?"

"Here kitty, kitty," Arden said slowly, moving toward it with as little fuss as possible. "Come here. Come here and I'll give you a treat, kitty, kitty."

"Meow," said the meowth, putting one paw on Flop's pokeball.

Arden reached into his back and pulled out a bit of dried meat. "Hey—hey, why don't we trade?" he asked, offering it out. "You give me that pokeball, and I'll give you this tasty beef, huh? Sound like a plan?"

"Meow," said the meowth. It snatched the pokeball up in it's mouth and turned to run.

"Damnit," said Arden, straightening up. "You're not getting away! Go, Cruelty!"

With a flash, he released the pikachu from his pokeball. "Pi pika chaaa!"

"Cruelty," said Arden. "Get that meowth! Don't let it get away—I don't care how badly you beat it up. You can be as violent as you want."

"Pika?" asked the pokemon, his ears perking up. He smiled. "Pika pi chu!"

Cruelty launched himself forward, cheeks crackling, up onto the ledge. The meowth ran into the grass, but Cruelty was fast on it. He tackled the fleeing meowth, knocking the pokeball out of its mouth. Arden scrambled up the ledge as Cruelty smacked the meowth around with his tail. The meowth growled and scratched Cruelty across the face, prompting the pikachu to shock him. The meowth screeched and threw itself at Cruelty, and the two exchanged blows so fast Arden couldn't keep up.

"It's as strong as Cruelty!" Arden exclaimed. "Oh, I can't pass this up."

He pulled a pokeball from his bag and tossed it, drawing the fighting meowth into it. Cruelty blinked as the ball rolled around. "Cha?"

The pokeball popped open, releasing the meowth, and cruelty was back on him, punching and biting. Arden tossed another pokeball. The light swallowed the meowth, forcing it inside, and the pokeball rolled about as the wild pokemon struggled. Cruelty and Arden watched it intently until it fell still.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Arden picking it up. "I caught him! And I'm going to call him Thief!"

"Kachu," mumbled Cruelty, looking upset.

Arden smiled nervously. "Don't worry. I'll let you beat the _next_ pokemon to a limp pulp."

"Kachu," said the pikachu, climbing up Arden's leg and pressing the button of his own pokeball to return himself to it.

Arden searched through the grass until he found Flop's ball. Having recovered it, he headed back down to the Day Care.

"Welcome back," said the old man.

"Here—this is Flop, my magikarp," said Arden, holding the ball out to the man. "He's not too weak for you to raise, right?"

"No pokemon's too weak for me to raise," said the old man, taking the pokeball. "You see, it's my policy to raise a pokemon with love and gentleness. No pokemon is too weak to be loved."

"Well, you haven't met Flop," said Arden. He started for the door. "When should I pick him back up?"

"Come back any time," said the old man. "I think you'll be surprised at how much your pokemon grows."

"I'll be surprised if he grows at all," muttered Arden. "See ya."

_**A/N:** Hey, I just want to thank everyone who reviews again. You guys rule. For anyone with the time to say so, I'd also like to know if you have any favourite characters as of now? Or any characters you absolutely hate?_


	21. Route 6

"What do you mean I can't pass through here?" demanded Arden, slamming his fist down on the security guard's desk.

The guard looked up from his newspaper and cup of coffee. "I mean exactly what I said, kid," he said. "This gate's closed. Come back later."

Arden slammed his forehead against the desk with a sigh. "Come back later? Well, just how much later?"

"I dunno, kid. Later."

With a groan, Arden pulled at a lock of his own hair. "This isn't fair! Where am I supposed to go if I can't get into Saffron City?"

"I'd try Vermillion, if I was you," said the guard.

"Were. It's if I 'were' you," said Arden, pulling out his map and waving it around. "And in case you haven't noticed, Vermillion is south of Saffron. And you won't let me into Saffron."

"There's an underground path just up the way you came," said the guard blandly. "Why don't you head up there, and leave me be, okay?"

Arden gritted his teeth, and put his map away. "Fine, whatever," he said, stomping out of the gate house. As soon as he left the building, he felt a shiver down his spine, and had the uneasy sensation that he was being watched. Nervously, he pulled a pokeball from his belt. "Come on out, Fang," he said, releasing the golbat. Fang screeched and swooped above his head, looking to him for instruction. "Ah, there's no fight or anything like that. I just thought that maybe we could, uh… hang out, or something? Here, why don't you stay on my shoulder? Yeah, come here…"

With a look of mild confusion, the golbat perched on his trainer's shoulder.

"Good boy," said Arden, opening the door to the underground path. "Just, uh, just don't suck my blood or anything like that, okay?"

Fang looked at him flatly.

"What? Not that I think you would, but…"

Obscured by the tall grass growing on a nearby ledge, a sandshrew watched Arden and Fang disappear into the building which housed the underground tunnel's entrance. When the door closed, it stood up and, glancing around briefly, turned and ran toward the gatehouse.

The underground tunnel was darker than Arden had expected, which made him glad he had Fang with him. The golbat led him through the disorienting darkness. He emerged from the other end of the underground path, to a wide, lush green field of grass with a brick path curving through it, and a large, blue pond in the middle, offset to one side. A bug catchers were wandering about the grass with their nets, and a couple of campers were seated by the pond talking to one another. Beyond the peaceful meadow, a small city with quaint building sat hunched beside a harbor and a hilly rise. As Arden started along the serene path, he couldn't help but smile at the picturesque quality of it all. Fang flapped his wings and opened his mouth widely, closing his eyes.

"You like this path, too, Fang?" asked Arden. "It's pretty, isn't it?"

"Golbat!" said Fang.

"…you can do more that screech?" Arden said, raising an eyebrow. "I feel like you've been lying to me, Fang, holding back. Just how much don't I know about you?"

The golbat closed his mouth, once again looking confused.

"That's a nice looking pokemon you have there," said a female camper who was sitting in the grass with a male camper.

"Is it strong?" asked the male camper. "Can we look at it?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so," said Arden, heading toward them. "He's pretty strong, I guess…"

"He looks strong," said the girl, reaching out her hand to pet Fang. He snapped at her playfully and she withdrew her hand quickly. "He's so mean!"

"Not the meanest pokemon I have," said Arden with a shrug.

"Hey," said the boy, grabbing Arden's arm. "Do you want to battle us? We'd love to have a double battle with you and your nice looking pokemon."

"I have to tell you, you are coming off as way creepy right now, kid," said Arden, arching one eyebrow. He pulled away from the camper. "A double battle, huh?"

"Yeah—two pokemon versus two pokemon."

"Yeah, alright," said Arden, resting on hand on his waist. "Yeah, I can probably do that."

"He'll battle us!" exclaimed the girl.

"Oh, glorious!" shouted the boy.

The clasped their hands together and squealed with joy.

"You guys are… you're creeping me out," said Arden. He took a step back.

"We're sorry!" said the girl. "We'll stop."

"You'll still battle us, right?" asked the boy.

"Y-yeah, I'll still battle you."

"Yay!" said the girl. She threw out a pokeball. "Go, Pidgey!"

"Alright!" said the boy. He threw out a pokeball. "Go, Spearow!"

The pidgey and spearow appeared, squawking and flapping their wings. Arden tossed out a pokeball from his belt. "Go get 'em—Fang, Thief!"

Fang leapt from Arden's shoulder to swoop around the campers, who followed his movements with evident glee as Arden's pokeball landed and the meowth sprang out of it. The pidgey took flight, and with a hard flap of its wings sent a hardy gust toward Fang. The wind attack struck the golbat, knocking him sideways and temporarily disorienting him.

"Thief, use payday on that pidgey!" said Arden. "Fang, bite that spearow!"

"Spearow! Use peck on that meowth! Don't let it hurt Pidgey!" shouted the boy.

The spearow darted toward Thief, but before it could make contact, Fang blocked it and—in one swift movement—sang his teeth into one of the enemy pokemon's wings. Thief arched his back and with a growl shot a stream of coins from his forehead which battered the pidgey above them. With a squawk, the pidgey pitched its body to one side and feel back.

"Ha! Teamwork!" said the girl, clapping her hands together.

"His pokemon must be quite good friends!" said the boy, delighted.

"Uh… alright," said Arden. "Thief, scratch that sparrow! Fang, use wing attack on that pidgey!"

"Pidgey, sand attack!"

"Spearow, fury attack!"

The pidgey flapped it's wings hard, creating a cloud of dust. Fang burst through it, smacking the pidgey in the throat with his wing and knocking it out. The spearow tried to attack Thief, but he dodged nimbly out of the way of its attacks before scratching it across the face. The spearow recoiled, covering its face with its wings.

"Okay—finish it, guys! Bite!" said Arden.

Fang and Thief lunged together at the enemy spearow, sinking their teeth into it simultaneously. With a pained squawk, the spearow fell to the ground. The male camper returned it to its pokeball.

"So strong!" said the boy.

"So coordinated!" said the girl.

"Uh, yeah," said Arden as Fang swooped around to perch on his shoulder and Thief sat down at his feet. "They, uh, they did do good, didn't they?"

"Thank you for showing us your pokemon," said the girl, bowing.

"Oh, yeah!" said the boy. "And thank you for the battle."

Arden took a few steps away from them. "Right. Uh, see ya," he said, starting again for Vermillion City with Fang on his shoulder and Thief walking along beside him.


	22. Vermillion City

Vermillion City was as picturesque as any bay-side town Arden had ever seen. Then again, his experience with bay-side towns was remarkably limited. All the same, the air was fresh and blue and smelt of salt and fish. As Arden entered the town, looking about with boyish wonder, the earth quaked beneath his feet, sending him stumbling.

"What was that?" he said, as Fang regained his own balance on his shoulder. "An earthquake?"

"Meow," said Thief, extending one paw. Arden followed Thief's motion with his eyes, and saw he was gesturing to a lot where a man was giving instructions to his machoke. The fighting pokemon stomped about the ground, flattening it and causing it to shake.

"Huh. That's weird," said Arden, turning away from it. His gaze fell on a large building at the edge of town. "…any bets on what that is?"

"Golbat!" said Fang.

"Meow," said Thief.

"…that's, uh… That's not helpful at all," said Arden. He shifted the weight of his bag on his shoulder and started down the street toward it. "I'm sure it's the pokemon gym. This city's supposed to have one, I think."

"Meow," said Thief.

"Oh my!" said an older gentleman. He rushed up to Arden. "You there!"

Arden turned to look at him. "Yeah? Can I, uh, help you?" asked Arden. He hoped the answer was 'no'.

"That is a magnificent meowth you have there!" said the man, picking up Thief and holding him against his chest. "Its fur is so soft and its eyes are so bright! Tell me, does this amazing creature have a name?"

"Yeah. He's, uh, called Thief."

"I see, I see!" said the man. "So you named it after a move it knows? Amazing!"

"Uh, not exactly… I mean, yeah, sure," said Arden. "Who—who are you, exactly…?"

"I'm the chairman of the Pokemon Fan Club!" said the man with a broad grin.

"Oh," said Arden. "…that's nice."

"It sure is!" said the man. "Just as nice as my rapidash! Have you ever seen a rapidash? Well, you haven't seen a rapidash until you've seen my rapidash! It's so smart and beautiful and strong and—"

"I'm sorry," said Arden. "I have somewhere I need to be. Do you mind giving me back my meowth?"

"Sure, sure," said the man, handing Thief to him. "Why don't you and that gorgeous pokemon come see us at the Fan Club some time?"

"Yeah, fine. See you," said Arden, walking away. When he was well out of sight, he mumbled to his pokemon, "What a weirdo."

"Meow," said Thief, holding up a small piece of paper in one paw.

"What's that?" Arden asked. He took it. "…a bike voucher? Where'd you get this? I don't remem—ah! You stole it from that old guy, didn't you?!"

"Meeeoooow," said the meowth, grinning.

Arden raised his eyebrows. "You sly devil, you," said Arden, patting Thief's head. He pocketed the bike voucher. "This doesn't mean I forgive you for taking Flop's pokeball off my belt."

He reached the tall building on the shore, at Vermillion's edge, noticing a luxurious ship docked near by. "The SS Anne," said Arden, reading the words on the ship's side. "Isn't that the ship Bill gave us the tickets to? Huh."

"Meow!" shouted Thief, looking at the cruise ship in wonder. He leaned toward it, but Arden grabbed him around the chest.

"Not now," he said. "I want to go battle the gym leader of this town. We can check out that ship later."

He started toward the gym, only to find his entry blocked by a wall of hedges. "What is this?" grunted Arden. He glanced around. "Blocked? …I've got it. Fang, help me get over this. Hang on, Thief."

Fang bit down hard on the collar of Arden's coat. "Careful—don't get puncture holes in it! It's new…"

"Gooool," mumbled Fang. He flapped his wings hard, lifting Arden a little off the ground.

"Great—keep it up," said Arden, as he grabbed a hold of the nearest hedge and started to pull himself up, assisted by the golbat, as Thief dug his claws into Arden's pant leg. Arden reached the top of the hedge, Fang straining to help him, and toppled over, sprawling both pokemon and himself on the ground.

Arden sat up dizzily after a minute. "Nng… We're in?" He stood up, as Fang flew to him. "Ah! We're in! Fang, return."

"Meow," mumbled Thief, his paws over his head.

"Come on—you can't be hurt. It wasn't that bad," said Arden, picking the meowth up by the scruff of the neck. "Don't be a wimp. Besides, we have battles to fight."

He paused to read the sign in front of the gym. "Vermillion City Gym. Leader: Lieutenant Surge, the Lightning American." Arden put a finger to his chin. "Lightning American? Wonder just what that means…"

"Meow, meow," said Thief, climbing up onto Arden's shoulder. "Meow."

"He's a Lieutenant," said Arden. "So that means—eh, could you stop meowing in my ear? …if he's a Lieutenant, that must mean… Uh… He's, um, well it sounds like it means he's probably absolutely terrifying."

"Meow."

"What did I tell you about the meowing?" asked Arden, flicking Thief in the nose.

"Meow!"

"Shush," said Arden. "It wasn't that bad. I mean, I've got a feeling you're about to get it a whole lot worse."

He stood before the gym doors and, steeling himself, entered into the stifling hot of the building.


	23. Vermillion City Gym

The interrior of the Vermillion gym was dark and humid. The main area was filled with trash cans—three neat rows of them—and at the back was a doorway filled with electricity. "Lightning American," said Arden. "I see. …but how am I supposed to get through there?"

"Meow," said Thief, dipping his head into one of the trash cans.

"Get out of there," said Arden, pulling back by his neck. "Don't steal people's trash."

Thief flattened his ears. "Meowth."

Arden looked around and spotted a gentleman standing beside the electric gate. "Maybe he can let me through," said Arden, venturing up to the man. "Hey, can you help me? I need to get through there to see the gym leader."

"Lieutenant Surge and his electric pokemon saved my life during the war," said the gentleman.

"War? What war?"

"Go, voltorb!"

"Ah, damn it!" said Arden. "Eh—Thief, get it!"

As the voltorb appeared, Thief leapt out in front of it.

"Voltorb, charge!"

"Use payday, Thief!"

The voltorb glowed yellow as it crackled with energy. Thief arched his back and fired a stream of shiny gold coins from the charm in his forehead. The voltorb recoiled, squeezing its eyes shut.

"Voltorb—spark!" commanded the gentleman.

Electricity erupted from the pokeball-like pokemon, hitting Thief dead-on. The meowth screeched with pain before falling to the ground.

"Get up—_get_ up!" said Arden. He grabbed a hold of Thief and shook him. "Keep fighting! –oh, fine. Return. Go Gentry!"

Arden threw out the nidoran's heart-adorned pokeball, releasing him into the battle. With a small cry of "Nido!" Gentry awaited his orders.

"Gentry, use double kick!"

"Nido!" shouted Gentry, leaping forward. He spun around and threw out his back legs, striking the voltorb soundly enough to send it rolling into its trainer. The voltorb fainted and the gentleman recalled it to its pokeball.

"That's okay, Voltorb," said the gentleman to his pokeball. "You battled well."

"No it didn't," mumbled Arden, picking up Gentry.

"What was that?" asked the gentleman

"Nothing, nothing," said Arden. He pointed at the electric gate beside them. "Do you know how to open this? I need to see Surge."

"The Lieutenant is a cautious man," the gentleman told him. "That's why he booby-trapped this gym."

"Cautious? He sounds down-right paranoid," Arden said. "So, how do I get in here?"

"You have to hit the switches," said the gentlemen. "There are two of them hidden in this gym. You need to find them."

Arden frowned. "That sounds like a lot of work," he said. He glanced at the trash cans. "…oh, in there? Are the switches in there?"

"I've really said all I can say," the gentleman told him. He started toward the door. "I need to get Voltorb to the pokemon center. Have a good day."

Arden didn't answer but, instead, set Gentry on the ground and started his search. "Gent," he said. "Go check the cans on that side of the gym, and I'll check this side."

"Niiido," chirped Gentry, doing as he was directed.

It was a good fifteen minutes before either of them found a switch. After searching several cans, Arden found a switch and flipped it, disappointed to find that the gate hadn't disappeared. "How many switches are there?" he wondered aloud. He looked around. "Anything around there, Gentry?"

"Nido," said Gentry, shaking his head. He returned to Arden's side.

"Here, help me over here," Arden said. "Look around for a switch around here…"

Gentry put his forepaws on the rim of a trashcan and lifted himself up to peer into it. "Ran! Nidoran!"

"Find something?" asked Arden, looking over. "Ah—that's it! That's a switch!"

He flipped the switch that Gentry had found and, with a crackling sound, the electricity turned off. Grinning, Arden ran toward the now clear doorway, and passed beyond it, into a smaller and darker room. Gentry followed him cautiously. The room housed a platform upon which sat a well-built man in a military uniform.

"Are you Lieutenant Surge?" asked Arden, suddenly unnerved.

"I am," said Surge, his sharp eyes studying Arden briefly before moving on to his pokemon. "You train poison types, kid?"

"A couple," said Arden. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing," Surge said. He stood up. "It's just that they don't learn really powerful moves. It's hard to win without powerful moves."

"I dunno. Whatever they learn or don't learn hasn't stopped me yet," said Arden. "What sort of pokemon do you use?"

"Electric," said Surge.

Arden frowned. "Oh. Okay, that makes the nickname Lightning American make sense, then, huh?"

"I'll tell ya, kid, electric pokemon saved my life during the war," Surge said, pulling out a pokeball. "And when the engines of my plane went out, electric pokemon kept the plane up in the air. I owe them my life."

"What war?" asked Arden. "You people keep talking about a war. I don't know anything about a war…"

"So, you want to challenge me?"

"Less and less," answered Arden. "But, uh, yeah—that's why I came here."

Surge smirked. "Alright, kid. We'll battle, but I'm not gonna go easy on you."

The gym leader tossed out his pokeball. "Raichu, go!"

"Gentry, get in there!"

Gentry leapt forward as the Lieutenant's pokemon appeared. "Raaaaiiichu!" growled the opposing pokemon.

"Gentry, use doublekick!"

"Raichu, thunderbolt!"

Gentry lunged at the raichu but before he could reach it, a burst of energy issued forth from the enemy pokemon's cheeks. A lightning bolt struck Gentry dead-on, fainting him immediately. Arden gritted his teeth and withdrew the pokemon back into his pokeball. He threw out another one. "Go, Fang!"

"Stupid move," said Surge. "Raichu, thundershock!"

"Rai!" shouted the pokemon, as lightning filled the air. The attack struck Fang, knocking him out of the air limply.

"Damnit!" said Arden, recalling the golbat. "Okay—Gimpy, go!"

The wartortle appeared. "Tortle!" he said, just before seeing the raichu. Eyes widening, Gimpy turned and ran, as fast as his deformed legs would allow him, to hide behind Arden. "Wartort tortle!"

"Gimpy, what the hell? Get out there and fight!" said Arden, smacking the wartortle in the back of the head.

Surge let out a bellowing laugh. "Kid, have you ever battled before? That's a water pokemon and my Raichu is an electric pokemon," he said, patting Raichu on the head. "It'll be fried by my boy's thunder attacks. Why would you put your pokemon through that?"

"I, uh—he doesn't care! He'll fight for me, won't you, Gimp?" asked Arden.

"Tortletortletorlte," said Gimpy, shaking his head. He pressed on his own pokeball, returning himself to it.

"Hey! Get back out here!" said Arden. "Quiter!"

Surge laughed. "Looks like your wartortle has some sense," he said. "S'better than blind courage, don'tcha think, Rai?"

"Raichu, rai," said the raichu, nodding.

"Fine. If Gimpy won't fight, Cruelty will," said Arden. He tossed out the pikachu's pokeball.

"Pi kaa!" shouted Cruelty, cheeks crackling with energy.

"Cute," said Surge. "Raichu, slam."

"Cruelty, quick attack!"

Cruelty leapt forward, ears back. He neared Raichu but before he could land a blow, the raichu threw his full weight on him.

"Kaaa!" cried Cruelty, in obvious pain.

"Mega punch, Raichu!"

Raichu drew back one arm and, with a powerful punch, struck Cruelty in the side of the head, sending him skidding across the gym floor. The pikachu lay in a heap, unconscious.

"I—I don't believe it," said Arden, picking the pokemon up. "You KO'd Cruelty like it was nothing!"

"It was nothing," said Surge, sitting down. His raichu took a seat on his lap. "Get outta here, kid. Why don't you come back after you've learned how to battle, huh?"

Dejected, Arden hung his head and started for the gym doors.


	24. Route 11

In the corner of the Pokemon Center, Arden sat with Gimpy, waiting for the rest of his pokemon to be healed.

"I can't believe you wouldn't fight," he said to the wartortle.

"Tortle war tort," said Gimpy, flailing his arms. "War tort tort!"

Arden sighed and leaned back in the cushy seat. "We need to train," he said. "That was just sad, how easily that gym leader beat us. His raichu didn't even break a sweat doing it, either."

"Wartortle," murmured Gimpy.

The nurse leaned over the counter. "Your pokemon are fighting fit!"

Arden stood up and retrieved the pokeballs before leaving the building. As he walked along the sandy streets of Vermillion, he hooked his pokeballs to his belt. At length, he came to the city's edge and saw, beyond it, a large field of tall, verdant grass. Trainers and their pokemon were searching through the grass and battling one another.

"This looks like a good place to train," said Arden, entering the grass with Gimpy limping along behind him.

A spearow stirred in the grass, and Arden threw out one of his pokeballs. "Cruelty, go! Get that spearow!"

"Piika!" shouted Cruelty. His gaze fell upon the bird pokemon and, with great malevolence, he leapt at it, pinning it to the ground and beating it about the face with his paws and tail, and pulling out its feathers. Gimpy and Arden watched, eyes wide, as Cruelty beat and shocked the pokemon until it stopped moving.

"Ah—Cruelty, I think that's enough, okay?" said Arden. The pikachu ignored him and went right on pummeling the limp spearow. Arden grabbed a hold of his tail. "Cruelty, I said I think that's enough."

"Kaaa!" said Cruelty, wheeling on him.

"Enk—c-come on, now, Cruelty. I'm you're trainer and you have to listen to me."

"Pikachu," growled Cruelty, the fur on his back bristling. Arden took a step back. "Ka cha!"

"Easy now," said Arden, holding up his hands. "I mean, we're all friends here, aren't we?"

Cruelty leapt at Arden, but was at the last minute, intercepted by Gimpy's water gun attack. The pikachu was knocked backwards, and hit the ground rolling. "Are you going to behave now?" asked Arden as Cruelty got to his feet.

"Kaaa chu!" shouted the pokemon, charging at Gimpy.

"Tort!" yelped Gimpy, as he ran, fast as he could, away from the pursuing pikachu. Cruelty caught up with him quickly and took a leap at his tail. He grabbed hold of it and bit down. Gimpy fell to the ground and started kicking at the pikachu, who dodged each attempt to dislodge him from his tail.

Arden sighed. "You guys," he murmured. Deciding it was as good a way to train as any, he left them to their fighting. Looking elsewhere, he started away from them. A drowzee emerged from a nearby bush and Arden squared his shoulders and pulled a pokeball from his belt. "Alright! Thief, it's your turn!"

He threw the pokeball and the meowth appeared. "Meow."

"Thief—bite that drowzee!"

"Meowth!" said Thief, taking a running leap at the wild pokemon.

The drowzee looked up just in time to see the meowth come flying at it. Thief dug his fangs into the drowzee's nose at it thrashed about in pain and terror.

"Good boy, Thief," said Arden. "Now hit it with pay day!"

Without letting go of the drowzee's nose, Thief hit it with a stream of coins from his forehead. The drowzee screamed and smacked at the meowth with its hands.

"Yeah! Alright, it's almost done," said Arden, balling up his fists. "Finish it off with scratch!"

Thief let go of the drowzee's nose but—instead of attacking—sat down and looked about the field. "Meow."

"What are you doing?" said Arden, clutching his head. "Scratch, Thief!"

"Meow!" said Thief. He turned and bounded into the grass, disappearing from sight.

"Thief! Get back here!" said Arden. There was no stirring of the grass—no sign "Damn it!"

"TORTLE!"

Arden spun around to see Cruelty on top of Gimpy shocking him. "Cruelty!" he shouted. "Stop that! Return!"

He held up the pokeball, drawing the pikachu inside of it. Gimpy lay on the ground twitching. "Oh, get up. That little thing can't have hurt you too bad."

"Wartort tortle," said Gimpy, straining to get up.

"Drama queen," said Arden. "Return, Gimpy."

He sighed and sat down at the edge of the grass. "I hate this," he mumbled. "It's too hard. Everything about this is too hard. No wonder I lost. My pokemon are all jokes…"

He rested his head on his knees, frowning, eyes on the shore beyond the field. The ocean was calm and blue, with a ship floating lazily on it. Arden raised his head from his knees. "That looks nice," he said, reaching into his pack. He pulled out the ticket to board the SS Anne. "I should take a break from this stupid training. Yeah… That's exactly what I need."

He stood up, wiping the dirt from his pants before starting for the docks. Suddenly remembering Thief, he stopped and turned around. There was no sign of the meowth, though he thought he saw a sandshrew, briefly. He turned back around and kept walking toward the docks, sure that he'd never find the meowth. "Oh well," he murmured.


	25. SS Anne

Arden was immediately impressed with the SS Anne as soon as he entered it. The interior was luxurious and festively decorated. The floor was carpeted with soft red rugs, embroidered with pokeballs at their edges, and all the metalwork on the ship was gilded. Arden stopped a passing sailor and asked him, "Hey, where does this ship sail to, anyway?"

"It'll be making a short trip along the coast to Olivine City in Johto," said the sailor.

"Olivine City?" asked Arden, raising his eyebrows. "Well, how long will it be there?"

"The ship'll stop there for, I'unno, maybe an hour. It's a party ship. Just stops enough for passengers to sight-see."

The young trainer frowned. "Alright. Uh, thanks," he said, moving along the corridor. He came to a pair of open double doors which lead into an enormous ballroom where a party was taking place. Droves of partiers were inside, laughing and dancing and showing off their pokemon. Arden walked among them, amazed to see so many strange pokemon, whose names and origins he couldn't even begin to guess at.

He saw one man with a white, squirrel-like pokemon on his arm, eating crackers happily out of his hand.

"What's that?" Arden asked the man.

"This is my beloved pachirisu, Belinda," the man said. "She comes from a region called Sinnoh. As do I."

"Whoa," said Arden. "I've never heard of that place. So, you're visiting Kanto and Johto?"

"Yes, that's right," said the man. "Say, are you from around here? I'd like to battle a local trainer something fierce, so that I could see some rare pokemon."

"I'll battle you," Arden said. "I'm not sure how rare my pokemon are, but I caught them all in Kanto."

"Marvelous. Belinda, go!"

"Pachi!" shouted the little pokemon scurrying down from the man's arm.

"Go, Fang!"

"Golbat!" shrieked Fang as he was released.

"No, no, no," said the man. "I've seen that one before. We have those back home."

"Oh. Ah, alright, then… Return, Fang. Go, Cruelty!"

"Seen it."

"…alright. Cruelty, come back. Go, Gimpy!"

The man leaned forward. "Now that," he said. "Is a new one. My, look at that tail."

"…tortle?" asked Gimpy, looking at Arden.

"He's not from around here," mumbled Arden to his pokemon.

"Belinda," said the man. "Use quick attack!"

"Gimp—water gun."

The pachirisu struck Gimpy hard in the chest, knocking him back a bit. He fired a blast of water at her, which—though it hit her dead on—she was mostly able to shrug off. Belinda's trainer laughed. "She's an electric pokemon, kiddo. Your water pokemon's pretty strong, I'm sure—why, he looks strong, anyway—but those attacks aren't very effective against an electric pokemon!"

"I hate electric pokemon," said Arden, pulling at his hair. "Please—please tell me, what is effective against electric pokemon?"

"Well," said the man, putting a finger to his bottom lip. "Grass and rock—oh, and ground. Can't forget ground."

"Damn it," said Arden. "I don't have any pokemon like that."

The man laughed. "Don't worry about it. Belinda's not too strong. You can overcome her, I'm sure, even if you don't have any super effective moves."

"It's not her I'm concerned about overcoming," muttered Arden. "Gimp, return. Go, Gentry!"

"Niiidoran!"

The man leaned forward again. "Oh—I've seen that before, but only one," he said. "A friend of mine was traded one by a friend of hers. Oh, he's a cute little fellow, isn't he? Belinda, spark!"

"Chiii!" exclaimed the pachirisu, hunching over. Electricity shot from her cheeks and struck Gentry. He yelped and fell to the ground.

"Get up! You can take that, Gentry! Don't pretend you can't!" said Arden, stomping his foot. "Horn attack!"

"Niii," murmured Gentry, getting to his feet. He charged at the pachirisu, catching her in the abdomen with his horn. Belinda cried out in pain, and her trainer scooped her up.

"I think that's enough," he said. "Don't take it so seriously."

"I have to take it seriously," said Arden, pouting. "I'm a trainer. I've got two gym badges and I need to train up or I'll never get my third."

"Hey, I'm a trainer myself," the man told him. "I've got five gym badges. But, kiddo, part of being a trainer is understanding that some battles aren't serious conflicts. Sometimes, it's just for fun."

Arden frowned. "Yeah, I guess," he mumbled, moving away. "Excuse me."

The ship was moving ahead through the water and, though every one around him was happy, Arden couldn't seem to get into a partying mood. He stood next to a long table full of food holding Gentry against his chest as the pokemon sniffed at the dishes and quietly whined longingly. Arden wasn't paying too much attention to the nidoran, however; his thoughts were all on his destination.

"Have I ever told you, Gent," he said, absently watching the ocean through a window. "I'm from Johto, where this ship is headed."

"Nii," said Gentry, reaching out one paw toward a shrimp puff that was just out of his reach. "Doooran."

"Not, uh, not exactly where it's headed," Arden said. "Goldenrod City is where I'm from… But, I've been to Olivine. I used to go there when I was little and I'd watch the ships come in."

"Nidoran." Gentry strained to reach a fancy pastry on a metal platter, but was unable to. "Ni, nii."

"I don't really know anyone in Olivine," Arden told him, still unaware of his plight. "So I guess it won't be a problem being there for an hour. Unless _she_'s there… But, no, I don't imagine she would be... I mean, she left home a long time ago."


	26. Olivine City

When the SS Anne docked in Olivine, the passengers were encouraged to disembark and have a look around. Arden exited the ship amongst a crowd of rich, excited tourists, holding Gentry and feeling extremely silly for coming to such a familiar place on a sight-seeing tour. As he reached the shore, the gaggle of tourists turned toward the light house while he started along the beach.

"Niiido," said Gentry, looking around at the little sea-side city.

"It's nice here, isn't it?" said Arden. "I used to come here all the time, because I liked it better than the city I lived in. Goldenrod was too noisy and too big, and I hated it there when I was little. So I'd come here with my brother, or my mom…"

He sat down on a rock facing the ocean and set Gentry in the sand. "Sometimes I'd sneak off and come here alone, too," he continued. "I wasn't supposed to, because it was dangerous. That's what my mom said. That it was dangerous to travel around without a pokemon. Of course, when I asked to borrow hers, she wouldn't let me…"

"Arden?"

Arden bit his lip at the familiar voice. With a great effort, he turned toward the speaker—a dark-haired girl about his own age in a sweat shirt and skirt with a larvitar at her heal.

"Felicia," he said.

"Oh, it is you," said the girl. "I thought so. I mean, no one else I've ever met wears ugly clothes like that."

"I thought you'd left Olivine city."

"I thought _you'd _left Johto."

Arden crossed his arms. "I did," he said. "I was just taking a break from training on a ship that happened to be stopping here for a bit."

"A break from training?" said Felicia. "How cute. You actually believe that real trainers take breaks. Oh, Arden—that is exactly why you'll never make anything of yourself. Everything's too hard for you, isn't it?"

Arden gritted his teeth. "I'll have you know," he said. "I already have two badges from the Kanto gyms."

"Two gym badges, huh? And you already have to take a break?" asked the girl, crossing her arms behind her back with a soft laugh. Her larvitar laughed as well. "I've already gotten six badges. And I got them here in Johto, without needing to run away from everyone I know in fear of them seeing me fail."

"That's not why I went to Kanto," said Arden defensively. "I went there to make a strong team of exotic pokemon."

Felicia pointed to Gentry. "Is that one of your 'strong, exotic' pokemon?" she asked.

"As a matter of fact, yeah. He is."

"Well, he's certainly adorable, but I can't help but wonder how you got two badges without evolving that pokemon to the next stage."

"You're pokemon's still in its first stage, too!" said Arden pointing at the larvitar. "Hypocrite!"

"That's because this pokemon—aside from being vastly powerful—is also newly acquired," said Felicia, putting her hand on the pokemon's head.

"What are you even doing back in Olivine city, huh?" said Arden, turning away. "I thought you left this place for good. I mean, that's what you said, wasn't it?"

The girl shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm just collecting my seventh badge," she said. "Jasmine wasn't around when I left, so I left Olivine without battling her. I'm back only for that badge. Then I'm off to the other edge of the region to get my last badge. Then, I'll go to the Pokemon League and I'll be the champion and I'll be too famous for this place."

"You're every bit as arrogant as you ever were, Felicia," said Arden, scooping up Gentry.

"And you're every bit as sour, Arden," Felicia said.

"I need to get back to my ship. It should be leaving soon."

"Why bother?" asked Felicia. "I mean, we all know that you can't cut it as a trainer. Sure, that's an embarrassing fact to admit, but it's not like it makes _all_ the people you know more disappointed in you than they were to begin with. Why don't you go back home to Goldenrod?"

"I am not a failure," said Arden, puffing out his chest. "I'm not going to go dragging myself back to Goldenrod, a failure."

Felicia laughed and turned away. "The longer you try to pretend that not true, the more painful it'll be when you have to admit it," she said. "Perseus, come."

"Tar," said the larvitar, following her as she started up the street.

Glowering, Arden turned and—digging his nails into Gentry—stamped toward the boat. "Where does she get off talking to me like that?" he demanded. "I am not a failure and I am never going to go crawling back to Goldenrod with my tail between my legs!"

"…nido."

"Never. I don't care what happens to me. I don't care if it never gets any easier than this," he said, boarding the ship. "I refuse to give that girl the satisfaction. Her and my stupid brother and my mom. I don't care."

He found a couch in the ball room and sat down on it, staring out at the ocean. Gentry lay against his chest, trying to cheer him up until the tourist passengers filed back in and restarted their party. It wasn't long until the boat started moving once more, and Arden's mind was taken off of Johto and Felicia, replaced instead by requests from the sight-seers to battle.


	27. Diglett's Cave

Thief prowled through the tall grass of Route 11, keeping close to the ground. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was being followed by someone, but he wasn't about to let that spoil his plans. He crept through the grass until he was close to a young boy who was training a rattata in the grass. Neither trainer nor pokemon noticed him as he crouched behind a rock. He waited for the perfect opportunity to make his move.

Finally, the boy knelt down to pet his rattata. Thief crawled closer still to the boy, his feet making no sound on the dewy earth. The young trainer was distracted and he was within reach. Thief was close behind him—so close that if the boy moved back even slightly, they'd touch. And there, just within reach, were the boy's pokeballs, resting against the small of his back.

Eyes glinting mischievously, Thief took one of the pokeballs in his jaws slowly. Cautiously, he pulled on it and—with the slightest resistance—it came free from the belt. Thief backed away slowly, clutching the pokeball in his mouth. His foot hit an unexpected stone, however, unbalancing him for a moment.

The pokeball popped out his mouth and rolled along the ground.

"What was that?" asked the boy turning around.

"Rattata!" shouted the boy's pokemon, knowing a theft when she saw one.

Thief flattened his ears and leapt forward trying to recover the pokeball he'd dropped. The rattata rushed forward to meet him, knocking him back. Claws extended, he took a swipe at her, but she dodged swiftly. He was knocked back as she tackled him and dug her teeth into his arm. Biting back the pain, Thief attacked her with his pay day attack, but she didn't seem at all to be fazed by it. The rattata smacked him in the face with her tail. He managed to push her off, and scrambled again for the ball.

He took hold of the pokeball in his mouth again, but before he could manage to run away, the rattata tackled him. She pinned him down, and readied to finish him with a hyper fang attack. Just before her teeth made contact, a yellow pokemon sprang out of the grass. It bowled her over, freeing Thief. Without waiting around to see who had saved him, he sprang up and ran into the grass. Behind him he could hear the boy shouting and the rattata shouting, and a third voice telling him to keep running.

After a moment, Thief became aware of someone pursuing him. Still running as fast as he could, he chanced a look back and saw a sandshrew running after him. Beyond them, the boy was giving chase, screaming about his stolen pokemon.

"I know a place we can hide," said the sandshrew in the language of pokemon. "Follow me!"

"Following you means slowing down!" said Thief, around the pokeball in his mouth. "Run faster!"

With visible exertion, the sandshrew sped up a bit, until he was neck and neck with Thief. He led him through the tall grass into a cave. When the pair entered, the sandshrew pulled Thief into a dark corner of the cavern, and motioned for him to be silent. After a moment, the boy came running in. He looked around but his eyes were weak, as human eyes tend to be, and he could not see in the darkness. Reluctantly, the boy left.

Thief sighed with relief, and set the pokeball on the stone floor. "Thank you," he said to the sandshrew.

"Don't mention it," the sandshrew answered. "It was stupid of you though—taking such a risk to steal another pokemon's ball."

"I collect pokeballs," said Thief, shrugging. "I have a huge stash of them just south of Cerulean city. My name's Thief, by the way."

"I'm Bruno," said the other pokemon, standing up on his hind legs.

"Well, Bruno," said Thief. "I guess it was lucky for me that you happened to be around."

Bruno shook his head. "It wasn't luck. My trainer sent me out to keep an eye on your trainer while he's busy on a job in Lavender town. But, after you ran off, your trainer got on the SS Anne and… well, I couldn't follow. Water, you see, I, uh—I have anxieties. So I decided I'd find you."

"Keep an eye on my trainer?" asked Thief, tilting his head. "Why would he want you to do something like that?"

"My trainer likes Arden," said Bruno. "So he wants to see him succeed. …he's just not sure that Arden can do that on his own. To be honest—and I don't mean to offend—I'm not sure he can either. I mean, my trainer gave him the technical machine for a move that would easily beat Lt. Surge, and he didn't use it. Not to offend."

"No, no. I know that he's… not very good to say the least," said Thief. "What technical machine did your trainer give him?"

"Dig."

"Dig?" asked Thief, eyes widening. "He had dig in his bag and he still let all of us get KO'd by that gym leader?"

Bruno nodded. "I didn't blame you for running away."

"I wasn't running away," responded the meowth quickly. "I just thought that maybe Arden wouldn't be such a miserable trainer if he had more pokemon. Stronger ones that weren't trained by him."

"So that's why you took that pokeball, huh?" Bruno asked him.

Thief nodded. "Well, that and I like to steal things. It's a thrill."

Bruno chuckled. "It's a shame that you're not a Team Rocket pokemon," he said. "I think you'd like it. We steal all sorts of things."

"You're a Rocket?"

"That's right."

"That's so cool," said Thief, in open adoration. "What do you do?"

"Well, we battle those that get in our way, and break into places and take things," Bruno told him. "Right now, my trainer's off in Lavender town with my pal Nathair the ekans. They're doing something in the Pokemon Tower there, but I'm not quite sure what. But he promised he'd bring me back a ground-type friend if I did a good job watching out for your trainer. It was nice of him to promise that, but I would've done it anyway."

"He sounds like a nice guy," said Thief.

Bruno shrugged. "Well, I like him just fine. Of course, I wouldn't know how it is else wise—he hatched me from an egg, so he's always been my trainer. …is it a lot of fun to be a wild pokemon?"

Thief shrugged. "It's alright, I guess," he answered. "Of course, it gets hard scrounging up food. If you're not quick enough to catch something, and then strong enough to kill it, you have to hope that you're at least quick enough to filch something from a human, and strong enough to beat their pokemon if they catch you."

"That sounds tough," said Bruno.

"Well, it has its rewards," said the meowth. "But, then again, so does having a trainer, I guess." He rubbed the back of his head with one paw.

"Speaking of trainers, we should get you back to yours," said Bruno. "That ship should be coming back soon, I'm sure. I bet Arden would be happy to see you come back."

"Yeah, I guess," said Thief, picking up the pokeball in his paws. "Will… Will I see you again?"

"Don't worry," said Bruno. "I'll be around. Come on, let's get down to the docks."

They walked to the shore together, and spent some time together there, waiting for the SS Anne to come in. When it came into view, Bruno said his goodbyes and headed off to hide. The ship docked and Arden disembarked with a crowd of tourists. He was visibly surprised to see the meowth waiting for him, pokeball in its meowth.

"Th-thief?" he asked, approaching him. He picked up the pokemon.

"Meow," said Thief, his voice muffled by the pokeball.

Arden took it from him. "What is this? Have you been stealing from people again?"

"Meow."

"Oh, whatever," said Arden, hooking it to his belt. "I guess I'm not going to be able to find the owner, anyway. Might as well keep it."


	28. Vermillion City Gym II

Arden walked to the Pokemon Center with Thief on his shoulders. "There was this nice guy on the ship that game me a Hidden Machine," he told the meowth. "It's cut. I've got it in my bag, and while we get your team mates healed up, I'm going to teach it to you."

He entered the building and set his pokeballs on the counter before having a seat in the corner with Thief. Setting the meowth on the seat next to him, Arden, unslung his pack and opened it. Thief leaned his head over the bag as Arden looked through it. "Move your head—I can't see what I'm doing, Thief."

"Meow," said Thief, pulling out a TM disk with his teeth.

"No, not that," said Arden, taking it away from him. "That's not cut, it's dig."

"Meow," said the meowth, flattening his ears. "Meow. Meowth."

Arden put the TM back into the pack and resumed his search, only to have the pokemon pull it out again. "Thief! Knock that off!"

"Meow," said Thief, taking the disk between his paws. He held it toward Arden. "Meow, meow!"

"What? What do you want?" asked Arden, snatching the disk. "This isn't the right disk, I told you!"

"Meow!" shouted Thief, extending his claws. He swiped at Arden's arm, scratching him.

"Hey! Ow!" said Arden. He put his other hand over the scratch. "What do you want from me?!"

"Meow! Meow!" said Thief, putting his paw on the disk. "Meeeow!"

"What? This?" said Arden, looking at it. "Well, what do you want with it? It's just dig, isn't it?"

The young trainer looked at the disk. The TM number and name were proudly displayed on one side of it, above the move's power and accuracy and the amount of times the move could be used before the pokemon wouldn't have the energy to do it anymore. Beneath that was a label, which read simply, "Ground."

"This is a ground-type move?" asked Arden, raising his eyebrows. "As in, a move that's super-effective against electric pokemon?"

"Meow!"

"And if I teach this move to one of you guys, I could beat Surge!" Arden said, leaping to his feet. "Yeah! Alright!"

He rushed to the counter. "Nurse! Nurse, are my pokemon ready yet?"

"They will be in a moment."

"I want them now."

"Hold on."

"Can't you hurry?"

"The machine goes at its own speed."

"Make it faster!"

"I'm sorry, I can't."

"But I need my pokemon. I have battles to win."

"Hold on."

"How about now? Are they ready now?"

"I said hold your horses," barked the nurse, losing her patience. "The machine can't go any faster so you'll just have to wait!" The machine beside her dinged. "…okay! Your pokemon are fighting fit! We hope to see you soon."

Arden took his pokeballs and rushed outside, followed by Thief. The meowth looked around, and spotted Bruno, tucked between a large rock and a building. He nodded to the sandshrew before climbing up onto Arden's shoulders.

"Who should I teach this to? I can only use it once, right?" asked Arden, pausing in the street. He pulled one of the pokeballs of his belt. "I could teach it to Gentry—he's a hard worker… Or, maybe I could teach it to you, since you're fast. Oh—I know! I'll teach it to Cruelty. He's my strongest and fastest pokemon, so it'll give me the best shot at defeating Lieutenant Surge. Yeah!"

He held up Cruelty's pokeball. "Come on out, buddy!"

"Ka pika cha!" said Cruelty, arching his back.

Arden knelt next to him. "I've got a move for you to learn," said Arden, holding up the dig TM. He paused. "I'm, uh, not sure how to get it off this disk, though."

"Kaachu," said Cruelty. The pikachu's gaze rested on the pokemon on Arden's shoulder. His cheeks lit up and crackled as sparks flew from them. Arden returned Thief to his pokeball quickly, at which Cruelty looked slightly deflated. "Ka."

Arden turned the Technical Machine over in his hands. "Dixie gave this to me, but he didn't say how it's used," he murmured. Cruelty snatched it out of his hands. "Hey!"

"Piii cha," said Cruelty, pressing the disk against his head with both hands. His ears drew back, and he squeezed his eyes shut. "Pikachu… Pi." Suddenly, the disk shattered and fell away.

"The disk! It broke," said Arden. He looked at Cruelty. "Did… Did you learn it?"

"Ka!" said Cruelty, turning. He touched the ground with his paws for a moment. Then, cheeks sparking, dug his stubby fingers into the earth. Moving at unreal speeds, he dug into the ground and, in only moments, he was gone. Arden looked around.

"Cruel—Cruely?" said Arden, taking a couple of steps.

Suddenly, the pikachu erupted from the ground a few feet away from him, accompanied by a spray of gravel and dirt. Arden jogged over to him and picked him up, spinning him around. "That was great!" he shouted. "Alright! Surge is going down!"

"Cha!" said Cruelty. He sank his teeth into Arden's finger.

"Gah—cut that out! That hurts!"

Arden shook Cruelty off his finger and the pikachu dropped onto the ground unceremoniously. The young trainer ran toward the gym at the ocean's edge, with his pokemon running after him. Arden's thoughts were all of the sweetness of seeing defeat on the smug face of the American gym leader. He reached the gym and entered it, still running. The electric gate was off this time, and he passed through to Surge's inner sanctum unmolested.

"Hey, I remember you," said Surge, standing. He held up a pokeball and released his raichu. "I wasn't sure you'd come back for a rematch. Most people don't."

"I'm not a quiter," said Arden, fiercely.

"Apparently not," said Surge. He smiled broadly—a gesture he meant to show approval, but all Arden saw was arrogance. "Hope you trained some. You ready to battle?"

Arden nodded. "Go, Cruelty!"

"Get in there, Raichu! Mega punch!"

"Cruelty, dig!"

Cruelty forced one paw into the ground, but Raichu was on him almost immediately. Before Cruelty could dig underground, the raichu drew back his arm and delivered a powerful punch which sent the pikachu rolling across the ground. Arden caught Cruelty up in his arms to find his pokemon had been knocked out cold.

"Oooh, light weight," said Surge, patting his raichu's head. "Too bad."

"I—I've still got more pokemon," said Arden.

"Use them, then, if you think it'll help."

"I will," said the boy. "Go, Gimpy!"

Surge shook his head. "I told you about this last time," he said. "It's a water pokemon. I mean, that's almost an inhumane choice!"

"Raichu rai," said Surge's raichu, looking back at him.

"Yeah, I guess that's a plan," said Surge, putting his hand to his chin.

"Hey—what? You can't possibly understand what he just said," protested Arden. "All that 'raichu raichu' stuff is just gibberish! There's no way you can understand that!"

"When you spend your life training a pokemon, you begin to reach a deeper understanding of each others thoughts and emotions," said the gym leader. "Raichu and I are friends, and our bond overcomes all barriers between us. That's what it means to be a trainer. Raichu, slam!"

The raichu threw himself at Gimpy, knocking him down with a powerful movement of his body and tail.

"Water gun, Gimpy!" said Arden. "And don't let him knock you around!"

With an effort, the wartortle shot a hard stream of water at the raichu. It struck him in the face, but he brushed it off.

"Mega punch, Raichu!"

Raichu drew back his arm and preformed the devastating attack, knocking out Gimpy. With a grimace, Arden returned the pokemon to his ball and threw out another one. "Gentry!"

They battled for two turns. Then, Gentry fell.

"Thief!"

One move later, Thief was finished.

"Damnit—Fang!"

Raichu managed to KO Fang easily with a brilliant thunderbolt.

Arden cursed, and reached to his belt. There was only one pokemon left—the stolen pokemon that he knew nothing about. Hoping it would be a strong one, he threw it out. "Go, pokemon!"

The pokeball opened and, in a flash of light, let free its contents. The light faded, revealing a yellow vulpix, whose entire body seemed to sparkle. Surge looked taken aback. "That's quite an unusually colored pokemon," he said. His raichu nodded.

"Alright—a vulpix," said Arden. He bit his lip. "A… yellow one. Uh, okay—flamethrower!"

Without question, the vulpix arched his back and let fly a cone of fire from his mouth. The raichu dodged to the side, but was not fast enough to avoid being partially caught by the flame.

"Raichu!" said Surge. "Let's finish this quick. Thunder!"

"Rai!"

Raichu's cheeks began to glow violently. An enormous blast of electricity shot from him, striking the vulpix, knocking him down. Wincing, the vulpix got to his feet.

"Vul…pix," said the pokemon, his voice pained.

"Not quite enough," grunted Surge. "Alright, it's weak, though! Quick attack!"

"You quick attack, too!" ordered Arden.

The two pokemon leapt at each other, but Raichu hit harder and faster. The vulpix went skidding along the gym floor, fainted. Arden picked it up, tears in his eyes. "No, no, no," he said. "I… I should've beaten you. I trained, I—I taught my strongest pokemon a move that's strong against electric types, I h-had a full team of pokemon."

Surge sat down, rubbing Raichu behind the ears. "You didn't win because you don't have a bond with your pokemon," he said. "You did better this time, kid, but you need to train some more if you want to beat me."

Burying his face in his vulpix's fur to hide his tears, Arden turned and ran from the gym. Surge watched after him, somewhat sadly. "It's a shame, isn't it Rai? Poor kid just doesn't understand the spirit of pokemon training."

"Rai-chu," said the raichu, nodding gravely.

"I hope he learns it," said Lieutenant Surge. "I hope he makes friends with those pokemon. It's hard for some people. Hell, I didn't learn the true nature of the trainer-pokemon relationship until you saved my life."

Raichu nodded again, somewhat sadly.


	29. Route 9

Arden had been training for days, in a way that was nearly nonstop. Every morning he'd leave Vermillion Pokemon Center to go train in the grass around the city, and he wouldn't return until the evening, when his pokemon were completely beat. He was afraid to challenge Surge again. Afraid to be so miserably beaten. One evening, while he waited for his pokemon to be healed, he told another trainer waiting in the Center about his crushing defeats at the hands of the city's gym leader.

"Yeah, Surge is a tough guy," she said. "Why don't you just go to Celadon city? The gym leader there's Erika, and I hear that she's far easier to beat."

"I can't get into Saffron city to get to Celadon."

"Well," said the girl. "There's a tunnel to Celadon just outside Saffron's gate to the east. If you go to Lavender town, you should be able to reach it."

"What?" said Arden, standing up quickly. He pulled at his own hair. "Why did no one tell me I could get to another gym without going through Saffron? Argh! I am so out of this stupid city!" He ran to the counter.

The nurse smiled, lifting his pokeballs out of the machine. "Your pokemon are fighting fi—"

Arden snatched the balls from her and ran out of the pokemon center. He ran through the tall grass north of Vermillion, startling the pokemon and angering the trainers. He dashed to the underground tunnel, and pushed on the door, still running. The door stuck, causing him to slam into it. He fell backwards, hitting the ground hard, his nose bleeding. Stiffly, he sat up, wiping the blood away with the back of his hand.

"Oh, Kanto," he muttered. "Just when my anger fades, you remind me why I hate you so much."

He stood up, and rammed his shoulder into the door, forcing it open. Muttering to himself, he started through the underground path, tripping and stumbling in the darkness. He emerged at the other end to the low, grassy cliffs south of Cerulean city. He resumed his path north, jogging, past the Daycare where he'd sent his magikarp. As he got to Cerulean proper, he ran out of breath and had to stop and rest a while. He sat down in the shade of a building, and rested awhile, releasing his vulpix to keep him company.

"Hey there, Blazer," said Arden, patting the yellow vulpix's head.

"Vul," said Blazer, closing his eyes and rubbing his head against Arden's chest.

"You certainly are an affectionate guy, I've noticed over the past few days," said Arden. "You don't miss your old trainer at all?"

"Vul." Blazer shook his head, and licked Arden's cheek.

"That's funny," Arden said. "Because Gentry had a different trainer, and he's still got separation anxiety from being traded."

"Vuuulpix," said the pokemon, resting his paws on Arden's lap.

"So, tell me, Blaze," said Arden, scratching at the blood that had dried under his nose. "How'd you get to be yellow? Is that, like, a birth defect, or something? Are you magical? Oh—are you a genie who's been trapped in the form of a pokemon? Was the person Thief stole you from the one who trapped you in this form? Is that why you're so lovey-dovey all the time? Do you need the reciprocating love of another person to turn back into human form?"

The vulpix cocked his head to one side. "Pix."

Arden sighed and patted the yellow vulpix's head. "Don't worry about it," he mumbled. "I, uh, I have some problems sometimes, where my brain goes on auto-pilot and… Well, it's a bad habit that I'm trying to get better about."

He stood up. "We should get going. I'm sure that the, uh…" He paused to look for a sign. "That this Cycle Shop doesn't want us loitering around." He blinked, and then reached into his pants pocket. "Oh! That voucher Thief snagged! I can get a bike!"

"Vulpix?" asked Blazer, following him around to the front of the shop.

"And then, I won't need to do so much running," said Arden, opening the door. He entered the interior of the building, followed by his stolen pokemon.

A man at the counter looked up. "Hey," he said, indifferent to his new customer.

Arden slammed his bike voucher on the counter. "Give me a bike!"

"No need to abuse the furniture," said the clerk, picking up a collapsed bike. "I mean, you could've just handed me the coupon. Here."

Arden took the bike and looked at it. "How do I…?"

"Pull here and there. There you go," said the man, showing him.

"This is pretty light weight," said Arden. "Is it going to hold me?"

"It's made for traveling. You'll be fine. Nice day to you."

Arden left, wheeling the bike along beside him, with his vulpix padding obediently along behind. Once he was out of the shop, he got on the bike and started pedaling. Blazer ran along beside him as he rounded the edge of Cerulean City and started along the winding path which led to Lavender town.

"Wonder what Lavender's like," he said as he cruised along the hard-packed earth. Mountains and cliffs rose on all sides of them, and he passed several pokemon trainers battling each other. "I mean, I heard stories about it from my big brother, but… Well, Gaius was always a bit of a blow hard, so it gets difficult to tell when he's telling the truth and when he's just making up stories."

"Vulpix," said Blazer, sprinting along beside him.

"You're a good listener, Blaze," said Arden. "That's what I like about you. You don't interrupt me every five seconds like Gimp, and the fact that I can't understand a word you say means if it doesn't matter if you're trying to give me advice."

"Vuuul!" squealed Blazer, wagging his fan-like tail.

"I don't want to offend you or anything," said Arden. "But I just—and, mind you, this is just a vibe—but I just can't shake the feeling you haven't got a lot between your ears. Not to call you slow but… I think you might be a bit slow."

"Vul?"

"Hey, don't worry about it," said Arden. "Unless it starts making you a pathetic wretch in battle. Then I'm going to have to trade you. But you won't mind that, I guess. I'm sure you'll warm up to anyone."

"Vulpix!" shouted Blazer closing his eyes. He licked Arden's elbow as he ran.

"Yeah… Not really disproving my point, but okay."

_**A/N:** Hi, all. I want to thank everyone again for reading. Even if I don't respond to every review, just let me say that every review is meaningful to me and I greatly appreciate that you take the time to read this, and that you take even more time to think of something to say and say it._

_I wanted to point out, in case you haven't looked at my profile lately, that I've put up a link to a picture of Arden and his (fully evolved) team. The picture is hosted on my DeviantART account, and I plan to put up more pictures--portaits of Felicia, Dixie, and maybe Gaius and their respective teams, as well as pictures of them interacting with each other. These pictures may contain spoilers for the story, or they may contain rosters and plot ideas that get nixxed before showing up._

_Anyway, if you're interested enough in this story, I'd recommend you keep an eye out for that extra material. Thank you so much for reading, once again._


	30. Rock Tunnel

For a long while, Arden stood outside the mouth of the tunnel to Lavender town, staring at its dark entrance with Blazer rubbing his head on his leg. He gripped the handle bars of his bike tightly. "It looks dark in there," he said. "I don't like that…"

"Vul!"

"Would you stop that? You're starting to creep me out."

"Pix!"

Arden rubbed his arm and wheeled his bike a little closer to the tunnel's pitch-black opening. Biting his lip, he pedaled slowly into the darkness, Blazer padding along behind him. "Hey—can you maybe give me some light or something?"

"Vulpix!" shouted the pokemon, but he made no attempt to provide any light.

Arden sighed and picked Blazer up. Holding the vulpix against his chest with one hand, he slowly made his way though the dark tunnel. He went slowly, bumping into rocks and the like occasionally as he wandered about the impenetrable dimness. Eventually, a spot of light in the distance struck his eye, and he raced to get near it.

Arden exited the tunnel and looked around.

"Damn it! This is where I entered the damn thing!"

"Vulpix," said Blazer, licking Arden's face.

With a heavy sigh, Arden turned his bike around and pedaled back into the tunnel. He didn't get far into the rock tunnel before the light of the entrance had disappeared. Wandering about in complete darkness, he soon became disoriented again.

"I hate this place, I hate this place," he mumbled to himself over and over again as Blazer rubbed his muzzle against Arden's neck. "Stop doing that."

His bike hit a snag in the dark path, throwing him over the handle bars, and flipping the bike. Boy and bike and vulpix tumbled together down a hole, landing in a painful heap at the bottom. "Vulpix!" objected Blazer, pulling himself out from under Arden and the bike.

Arden moaned and sat up, groping around for his bike. He folded it up and put in his bag. "I can probably do without this for a bit," he mumbled. "…Blazer, are you here still?" He felt around until he found the pokemon.

"Vul!" said Blazer, licking Arden's hand.

"Guh—stop that. It's disgusting," said the trainer, withdrawing his hand quickly, and wiping it on his pants. The pokemon rubbed his head on Arden's leg. "Seriously, if you don't start acting normal and stop all this licking and nuzzling I'm going to... put you back in your ball and float you down a river."

"Vul?" said Blazer, lowering his ears—a gesture that Arden couldn't see at all.

The pair wandered along through the oppressive shade of the tunnel. The air was thick and humid, and the path was littered with rocks of all sizes. Arden ran face-first into boulders and walls five times before he learned he should walk with his hands outstretched before him. However, there was nothing to be done about the lower obstacles, and he repeatedly tripped and fell, and smacked his legs on outcropping rocks. For hours he wandered aimlessly through the dark caverns of the rock tunnel, keeping one hand out in front of him and gripping Blazer's tail with the other. At last, he saw a light.

"I swear, if this isn't the other end of the tunnel," he murmured, approaching it cautiously.

He looked out at the landscape beyond—a cliffy overlook of a quaint little town. An enormous tower rose up over the little city, and Arden couldn't help but shiver looking at it. In fact, the whole city seemed to have an uneasy aura of sadness about it. Glancing around, he chalked it all up to the inexplicably grey weather that had formed at this side of the tunnel. Blazer was rubbing against his leg again, and Arden returned him to his pokeball with a frustrated sigh.

"Does he even hear me when I talk?" asked Arden, clipping the ball to his belt. "Does he understand me at all when I speak?"

He started down the path to Lavender town, pausing only to battle a couple of trainers waiting about on the path. Eventually, however, he reached the town, carrying Gentry in his arms, and found it to be a silent and somber place. Said Arden to Gentry, "My brother told me this town it haunted. –Not that I'm saying he was telling the truth, or that I believe in ghosts, of course…"

"Niido," said Gentry, looking up at the tower, whose shadow fell across the town.

Arden looked up at it to. "Gaius said that building's a pokemon graveyard," he said. "But, I don't, uh, I don't think that's a lie."

Gentry shivered. "Ni—nidoran," he said.

"Hey, stop moving around so much," Arden said. "I don't want to get poisoned again."

He glanced around. Spotting a path to the west, he turned away from the tower. "Creepy old thing," he said. "I can't wait to get out of—"

"Arden!" came the familiar voice of Dixie from behind him. He turned around to see Dixie jogging toward him, an arbok at his side. "Arden! Good to see you."

Arden smiled as best as he could, considering the amount of banging-up he'd gotten in navigating the tunnel didn't exactly make him feel too cheery. "Hey, Dixie. What's up?"

"Well," said Dixie. He dug his hands into his pockets and kicked lightly at the dirt. "Well, see—I've got a problem. Me and a couple guys were supposed to be securing things for the Team here—a strong pokemon that lives in the tower…"

"Oh," said Arden. "Well, good luck. I should be going—"

Dixie grabbed his arm. "Well, see, we need some help securing the pokemon," said the Rocket grunt. "I saw you come into town, and I was hoping that maybe you'd help me."

Arden frowned and glanced at the path at the town's edge. "Well, see…"

Dixie tightened his grip on Arden's arm and leaned in close. "Look, I didn't want to say it at this point in our… _relationship_, but, quite frankly, you owe me."

"Owe you?" said Arden, raising an eyebrow. "For what?"

"How about for saving your life?" said Dixie, flicking one of Gentry's spikes.

"I… forgot about that…"

"Or, maybe for giving you dig so you could take on the Vermillion city gym."

"That didn't help me at all; I still lost to Surge!"

"Or perhaps for generally looking out for you," said Dixie. His nose was practically touching Arden's, and his grip on the boy's arm was becoming painful. "So, how about you please come up to the Pokemon Tower with me and help us?"

Gentry flattened his ears and growled, "Raaaan."

Beside Dixie, the arbok raised himself up and hissed, baring his fangs. "Nathair—down," said Dixie sharply. The pokemon obeyed. "Well, Arden."

"Fine," said Arden. "I'll go up there with you."

Dixie let go of his arm and smiled. "Good man," he said, throwing his own arm over Arden's shoulders. "Let's go then. Ah—point of interest, you do have a pokemon which knows some dark-type moves, right?"

"Yeah, I do," said Arden. He frowned as they walked toward the tower. "…why?"

"Ah… Ghosts," said Dixie, nodding toward the tower. "Lots and lots of ghosts."

**A/N:** I've put another relevant picture up on DA--link's on my profile--this time of Felicia and her team. Next picture will either be Dixie and team, or Gaius. Not sure yet.


	31. Pokemon Tower

Sticking close behind Dixie as they ascended the stairs of the Pokemon Tower, Arden asked, "So, uh, how long have you been with Team Rocket?"

"Oh, a year, there abouts," responded the grunt. "Watch your step—some of the stairs are missing."

Arden stepped over a missing stair as Dixie reached the floor above them and paused, briefly, for Arden to come abreast of him. A thick fog hung across all the graves, and made it hard to see the opposing wall. In his arms, Gentry shook. Dixie and Nathair, however, did not seem at all to be bothered by it.

"Why'd you join the Rockets?" Arden asked to take his mind off the creepiness of the tower as they started through the winding maze of grave markers.

"Well, I left home when I was fourteen," Dixie said, rubbing Nathair's head as they walked. "I didn't have anywhere to go, and I had a hard time making it on my own… Not that I'd say it was a stupid idea to leave home, just that I wasn't prepared for the reality of being completely alone. I caught Bruno, and that made things a little easier, but I still had trouble getting along. And then I met a recruiter for Team Rocket and…" He shrugged.

They walked on in silence for a couple minutes before the lack of sound began to feel suffocating to Arden. Quickly, he asked, "So, do you like working for Team Rocket?"

"There are worse things," Dixie said, nonchalantly.

"So," Arden said. "Why'd you leave home in the first place?"

Dixie turned around to face him. "You're getting rather personal," he said.

"Sorry."

Gentry quivered violently against Arden's chest, burying his face in the boy's jacket. Dixie held out one arm to stop Arden. "They're coming," he whispered as Nathair drew himself up to his full height.

"Who—?"

A ring of dark balls of gas appeared around them, accompanied by laughter. Arden yelped in fear and tried to run away, but Dixie caught him by the arm. Eyes appeared within the dark balls floating around them, followed by grotesquely grinning mouths with sharp fangs. The laughter was getting louder and louder.

"There are ghosts here? Real ghosts?" said Arden, shaking violently as Gentry huddled against his chest. "I thought that was just folklore!"

"Ghost pokemon—ghastly," said Dixie. "Nathair—bite!"

The arbok drew back briefly, before propelling himself forward, using his long body like a spring. He clamped his jaws down on one of the ghastly and, with a cry, it disappeared. "If you've got pokemon with some dark types moves, send them out," said Dixie. "Ghost pokemon are weak to dark attacks."

"Okay," said Arden, tossing a pokeball. "G-go, Fang! Bite!"

Fang screeched as the ball released him and wheeled about over their heads. He swooped down, fiercely snapping at one of the ghastlies. The pokemon quickly evaporated under the attack. Nathair and Fang attacked the ghost pokemon with their bite attacks, until all were gone.

"Good job, Nat," said Dixie, rubbing Nathair's head. Arden returned Fang to his pokeball.

"So, those were ghost pokemon?" he asked.

"Yeah. We should keep moving," said Dixie, walking.

"So, are they, like, the ghosts of dead pokemon?"

Dixie and Nathair reached the next flight of stairs and began to ascend them to the next floor. "No one's really sure. They might be."

Arden followed close behind Dixie, Gentry huddling under the breast of his jacket. "So, pokemon can die?"

"We're in a pokemon graveyard, Arden," said the grunt. "I thought that pokemon mortality was a given. Besides, how old are you? Twelve? Certainly you should be aware of death by now…"

"Well, I know people die," said Arden, frowning. "I just… didn't think pokemon died, too. I mean, after all, they endure all sorts of things that would kill you or me. I've never known any dead pokemon."

"People die, pokemon die," was all Dixie said as he reached the top of the stairs.

"But how?" asked Arden.

"Dixie! Hey, man—where'd you rush off to?" said another grunt on the landing above them. "I turned around for one minute and you were just gone."

"I thought the ghosts had gotten you," said yet another grunt.

"I'm fine," said Dixie. "I just went to get reinforcements. This is Arden—Arden, this is Tony and Dante."

"Pleasure to meet you," said Dante, holding out his hand to Arden. Hesitantly Arden shook it.

"This is just a kid, Dick," said Tony, putting his hands on his hips. "What is he, ten?"

"Twelve," Arden said. "And I have two gym badges."

"Yeah, so does Dante, but it doesn't mean I trust him to do anything right," Tony replied.

Dante frowned. "I do things right sometimes," he mumbled, turning his face toward Dixie. "Don't I?"

Dixie put his arm over his fellow grunt's shoulders. "Of course," he reassured him. "I figured since we three couldn't handle it on our own, Tony, it could only help to have a fourth man."

Tony gritted his teeth. "Yeah, fine. Whatever," he said, turning and walking away. Dante followed him, and Dixie motioned that he and Arden ought to as well.

"So, what are we doing exactly?" Arden asked Dixie.

Dixie smiled. "We're capturing a marrowak."

"Marrowak?"

Dixie nodded and said, "It's the evolved form of cubone. A rare pokemon—you hardly ever see them. This one's turning out to be craftier and all together more powerful than we expected."

"There it is!" shouted Tony, pointing at a orange-bodied pokemon cornered between two tombstones. "Go, Raticate!"

"Go, Meowth," said Dante throwing out a pokeball.

"Nathair, get her!" said Dixie, pointing. The arbok darted forward.

Arden threw a pokeball from his belt. "Cruelty!"

"Arden—Cruelty's an electric type," said Dixie. "The marrowak's a ground pokemon—his attacks won't work on her."

"Oh, you'd be surprised what a brawler he is," mumbled Arden.

The marrowak hunched her back and held up her bone club as the four pokemon advanced on her. She threw the bone, knocking Dante's meowth down with it. Nathair reached her and wrapped himself around her midsection, while Tony's raticate bite down on her skull helmet. Cruelty was there a split second after them, cheeks sparking, blood lust in his eyes. He dug his teeth into her exposed throat and threw one hand through the eye hole of her mask. The meowth recovered from taking the hit, and leapt into the fray.

A vicious fight ensued which was, at times, hard to watch. The first casualty of the fight was Tony's raticate, who fainted and was recalled. Next, Dante had to return his meowth after it was too injured to continue. Cruelty and Nathair kept at it, but the marrowak—injured as she was—kept her own for a while. Finally, however, she was weak.

"Ha—return, Nathair! That was good," said Dixie. "Time to capture it!"

He threw his pokeball, but it was intercepted by Cruelty, who knocked it away. He leapt on the weakened marrowak, and began pummeling her with all the viciousness of a rabid dog.

"What's he doing?" asked Dixie. "That marrowak's too weak to fight back!"

"Cruelty, return!" shouted Arden, but the pokemon wouldn't obey.

The marrowak's skull was breaking under Cruelty's fists and every punch he made caused damage to her internal apparatus. Dante ran toward the fighting pokemon, but before he could get close, Cruelty let out a burst of electricity which forced him to stay back. The pikachu continued his assault.

And then, the marrowak's eyes went dull. It lay, lifeless, beneath him, as he continued to smack it.

A silence settled over Arden and the Rocket grunts as they watched. Dixie turned away, and silent tears streamed down Dante's face. There was blood all over Cruelty's fur, and it was puddling and clotting on the ground around him. Arden watched, his stomach turning over inside him. Cruelty wore himself out, at length, and Arden quietly returned him to his pokeball.

Beyond the marrowak's corpse, two cubone huddled together.

Dixie's eyes moistened. "Her children," he said, approaching them. He knelt down, in a patch of ground that was not blood-stained, and held out his hand to the cubone. One looked at him very earnestly, and took his hand with its little paw. He lifted it to his chest. The other, cry, swiped at him, before turning and fleeing over the corpse of its bludgeoned mother.

"Should… we go after it?" asked Tony.

"No, no," said Dixie quietly. "Let's just… get on with our job. Arden, you can go."

Without a word, Arden started down the stairs, his entire body numb with guilt.

_**A/N:** Kind of a dark chapter, not a lot of laughs. Sorry. Anyway, picture of Gaius--Arden's brother--is up on DA. Link on profile, as usual._


	32. Dixie's Flashback

_**A/N:**__ After the dark material of the last chapter, I'm not sure how to transition into the rest of the story. So, I figure, this is as good a place as any for you to learn more about Rocket Grunt Dixie._

It wasn't that Dixie's life was completely unbearable. There were happy times, and there were sad times—just like every one has. It was the fact that there were so many sad times that made him leave.

When he was a child, he'd sit for hours at the edge of town, on a ledge, watching the ocean gently rise up, darkening the sand, before retreating back into itself. He'd pull his knees up to his chest and lock his arms around them, while the sea breeze flitted gently through his auburn hair. It was his own paradise and, even after it had been a long time since he'd seen it, he carried the spot with him in his heart, always. And when he was feeling down, or when he was cold and hungry and every day was a seemingly endless line of chores, he'd close his eyes and imagine the sparkling, sapphire ocean, and the swimmers taking laps in it with their pokemon.

His mother wouldn't let him swim in the ocean.

"You'll get hurt," she said, sternly. She worried about him too much, Dixie always thought. She was overbearing, Dixie always thought. She was old and didn't remember what it was like to be denied simple joys, Dixie always thought.

"Yes, mother," Dixie always said in the end. He knew where she was coming from; he was her only child and, at her age, she wouldn't have any more. It was a shame. Dixie would have liked very much to have a younger brother. Or maybe a sister. Someone to protect and teach and guard like his mother guarded him—except, thought Dixie, he'd guard them with more understanding.

"Good boy," said his mother, pinching his cheeks. "Now, go bring in some leeks. I'm making soup."

"Yes, mother," Dixie said, exiting their modest home with a bow.

He was twelve at that time, and he was short and thin for his age. It wouldn't be long until he grew taller, but he never did manage to get any buffer. However, that didn't bother him—after all, he didn't like to fight. When the other kids of Fuchsia came around to pick on him, he didn't fight back. They pushed him around and hit him and threw stones, but he didn't fight. Some of them had pokemon, and they would sick them on him. When he came back home, battered and bleeding, sometimes his mother would ask him what had happened. Sometimes, though, she'd just pretend not to notice.

So it was that day. He went out of their modest home, around to the back of it where their vegetable garden was struggling to produce food. Dixie knelt down beside a row of carrots, and turned his face toward the earth as he saw the familiar bullies approach, hoping that if he didn't make eye contact with them, maybe they wouldn't stop.

Suddenly a foot came into view, as it stomped down hard on the meager leeks. Dixie couldn't help but look up. "Jeffery," he said weakly. "You're standing on my family's vegetables."

The boy and his gang of pals grinned as he dug his heal down, grinding the leek into the dirt. Dixie lowered his face again. "What… what do you want, Jeffery?"

"Get up," said the boy, thrusting out his chin. Dixie stood up, his eyes still on the ground. Jeffery drew back his arm and punched Dixie in the mouth, hard enough to make Dixie stagger back, against the wall of the house. The gang of boys laughed as Dixie slumped against the wall. A few took turns punching him in the gut, and some kicked him when he fell to the ground under their assault. Growing tired of their game, the boys departed, laughing.

"Pathetic," said one of the boys as they moved away.

"Doesn't even try to defend himself!"

For a while, Dixie lay on the dusty ground, blood dribbling slowly from a cut in his lip. He closed his eyes and thought of the ocean, and not of the pain in his body. At length, Dixie sat up and shambled into the house.

His mother looked up from her cooking. "Dixie, where are the leeks I told you to pick?"

"Some one accidentally stepped on them," Dixie said. "I'm sorry, mother."

She frowned. "It… it's alright. Not your fault, I guess. But, your father will be disappointed when he gets home…"

"I'm sorry," said Dixie.

"It's fine," said his mother, looking back down into the pot she was working with. To Dixie, she looked disappointed. "Wash up, please. You're getting dirt all over the house."

"Yes, mother," Dixie said with a bow.

Later that evening, long after the sun had gone down, Dixie's father came home. He stumbled through the front door, slamming it behind him and loosening his neck tie. Dixie's mother frowned. "Dear, what happened to your coat…?"

"Don't worry about it," said his father gruffly, sitting down at the table. "Where's my dinner?"

Silently, Dixie's mother fixed his father a bowl of soup and set it down in front of him. The family ate in silence.

"No leeks," murmured the father, swirling his spoon through the bowl slowly.

The mother responded quietly, "They got ruined."

"I'll bet," the father said, glancing at Dixie and furrowing his brow. Dixie slid down in his chair.

"Dixie," said his mother. "Sit up. If you slouch, you're going to have bad posture. Do you want to spend the rest of your life bent double?"

"Sorry, mother," said Dixie, fixing himself in his chair. He stared down into his bowl. He set down his spoon, and placed his hands on the table.

"Eat your soup," growled his father.

Dixie frowned. "I'm not hungry, sir," he said.

His father scowled at him. "Kids that don't obey their parents don't get to have pokemon, you know."

Dixie shrugged weakly. "You don't let me have pokemon anyway, sir," he said softly. After a moment, he added, "I'm sorry. That was disrespectful."

"Yes it was," said his father, standing. "I'm going to sleep. Millie, don't wake me up when you come to bed."

The woman watched him leave silently, before looking down into her soup. Dixie stared after him for a long time. "Eat your soup," said his mother.

"Yes, mother," he said. She pushed her chair away from the table and stood.

"I'm going out to wash the laundry," she said, looking away from Dixie. The boy nodded, as his mother retrieved a large basket full of dirty clothes and headed out the door. Dixie sat for a while, running his spoon back and forth through his soup before standing, with a sigh, and clearing away the dishes. For a time, he stood in the shadowy hall, just outside his father's room, afraid to pass it to go to his own. Finally, the boy worked up the nerve and started along, only to be stopped.

"Oi, Dixie," came his father's voice from within the room, slurred and half-asleep.

"Yes, sir?" said Dixie, freezing outside the door.

"Come in here," said the man. "I've got somethin' for you."

Dixie bit his lip and—though it was the absolute last thing he wanted to do—entered the room. In the dark room, his father sluggishly beaconed him forward, to the edge of the bed. Dixie came to him, and stood, body tense, waiting to be hit. His father didn't sit up.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Y-you called me in here, sir," said Dixie.

"Liar," said his father. "Get out of here before I smack you in your lying mouth."

"Ye-yes, sir," said Dixie, bowing. He turned to retreat.

"Oi," said his father, sitting up. "Where do you think you're going? You too good to accept a gift from your father?"

Dixie paused, and turned back around. "You… you have a gift for me, sir?"

His father narrowed his eyes at him. "Oh, so now you want a gift, you entitled little shit?"

"Eh—you said… n-nevermind," said Dixie. "I'm sorry, sir."

He turned again to leave.

"Oi," said his father. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ball. "This. Take it."

Dixie approached cautiously and picked it up. By the faint light, he examined it. At first, he was unsure of what it was and, even after he identified it, he was sure he was wrong. "A pokeball?" he asked breathlessly. "Is… is there a pokemon inside?"

His father smacked him in the side of the head. "Don't say 'thank you' or nothin'," growled his father. "Get out of here, you spoiled brat."

"Y-yes, sir," said Dixie, shaken up. He retreated quickly, clutching the pokeball against his chest. When he was in his room, he sat down on his rickety bed, and rolled the pokeball between his palms.

"G-go, pokemon," he said, quietly, pointing the pokeball at the foot of his bed.

With a flash of light, an ekans appeared before him. Tears welled up in Dixie's eyes to see the pokemon, staring at him so trustingly, and he threw his arms around its neck. "I—I have p-pokemon of my own."

"Eeeekans," said the pokemon, wrapping its tail around his waist.

"I want to call you Nathair," he said. "Is that—is that alright?"

"Ekansss," said the ekans, nodding its purple head.

After that, when he went to the ocean, it was always Nathair. The ekans would wrap itself around him, lay in his lap, and they'd watch the waves roll in and out together. During these times, Dixie would talk to Nathair quietly. Always he'd talk about leaving Fuchsia City—about heading north, and making his way as a great pokemon trainer.

"It wouldn't be very hard," he'd say. "I'd have you, and that's all I'd need. We'd be side by side—battling gym leaders and other trainers. We'd be free and we'd be happy."

"Ekansss," said Nathair sadly.

"Don't be sad, Nathair," said Dixie. "If—if you don't think it's a good idea, I'll stay. I'll stay…"

Nathair nuzzled against him, and he rubbed the pokemon's head.

"Only for a while, though," he whispered. "I'm not going to stay here forever, Nathair. You and I are going to leave this place someday. Someday soon, perhaps. We're going to go, and we're going to battle, and we're going to be heroes and make friends and fall in love and do all the others things that get done in stories. You and I, Nathair… We're going to do that."

_**A/N:** The picture of Dixie and his team is now up; link's up on my profile. That concludes the team pictures for the major players of this story, at the moment. I'm not sure what I'll do now... Maybe I'll do some portrait-profile hybrids. Or possibly I'll do scenes from the story, or maybe just take requests... Dunno. I'll be doing something more, though._


	33. Cinnabar Island

Outside of the tower, Arden collapsed onto his knees. Setting Gentry down in the grass beside him, he doubled over and retched into the dirt. Gentry pressed against his leg and shivered. Long after Arden had nothing to throw up, he continued to heave. Finally, he was able to straighten up, and he looked around with his vision blurred by tears. Gentry lay his head on Arden's thigh and looked up at him.

"Raaan," said the nidoran, flattening his ears.

"C-come on," said Arden, picking him up and holding him against his chest. "We need to… to keep moving."

He left town, walking slowly, holding Gentry against him. His whole body felt numb and shaky, and his stomach turned over at the unwanted thoughts about what had just occurred. The young trainer tried to push it out of his mind—after all, there was nothing he could have done, and no way he could have known what would happen—but his mind kept dwelling on the idea that any time he had ever called out Cruelty, it was like he'd been playing Russian Roulette. And any time he'd ever call him out again, it was still up to chance whether another pokemon would be killed. Or a trainer.

He stumbled on, trembling, through the fields west of Lavender Town, tears running down his cheeks. "I should—I should just… just throw his pokeball into a river," he said to Gentry. "B-but, he's the strongest pokemon I have… I don't… I don't think I'd be able to win against Surge wi-without him…"

"Nido nidoran," said Gentry, pressing his face against Arden's chest.

Arden sat down on the side of the path. "I wish that Gaius was here," he said, wiping the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. "He'd know what I should do. He'd know how to tr-train Cruelty. I could c-call him, if my stupid pokegear worked outside of Johto!"

"Nidoran," Gentry said, trying his best to calm his trainer.

Arden pulled out his pokegear from his bag and shook it angrily. "Stupid thing," he said. "If I could call Gaius… He—he can train any pokemon at all. Jeex—I don't even know where he is or anything…" With a sigh, he put the pokegear away.

In fact, however, Arden's big brother Gaius was not all that far away.

In Cinnabar Town, a young man with spiky blonde hair and an enormous frame arrived from the ocean, on the back of a burly tauros. Still mounted on his pokemon steed, he entered the town, his sharp green eyes scanning the buildings. "Well, Quenelle," he said to his tauros, rubbing the pokemon's neck. "Doesn't look like baby brother's here."

Quenelle snorted and tossed his head.

"I know, I know," Gaius said. "Guess we'll keep looking."

He turned his face toward the volcano at the edge of town. "Might as well sight-see, though," he said, grinning. He urged the tauros toward the volcano. "Looks like a dangerous place to build a city. These Kanto folks aren't too smart, eh, Quen?"

"Taur!" shouted Quenelle, nodding his large head.

Gaius laughed and patted his cheek. "Now, you ain't just agreein' with me to keep up appearances, right?"

"Taur!"

"Alright," said Gaius. "That's what I like to hear."

"Taur-aur-auros," said the pokemon breaking into a run, as he headed onto the rocky path which lead up the volcano. Gaius looked around as his pokemon bore him onward.

Suddenly, he grabbed onto the tauros' horns and yelled, "Wooah—one minute, there, Quen! Hold it!"

With a great deal of dust, Quenelle dug his hooves into the ground and skidded to a stop. "Auuuros?"

"I saw a pokemon gym," said Gaius, holding one hand over his eyes to shield him from the mid-day sun. He spotted it and thrust out his hand toward it. "There! That's where we're going, Quenelle!"

"Taur!" shouted Quenelle, changing directions. He charged toward the gym. The doors opened before him, and he came clattering to a halt inside the gym.

Gaius took a deep breath, digging his fingers into Quenelle's fur. "Yeah. This is what I like, Quen," he said. "We haven't battled in a week or so. Should be fun."

He approached an old man who was working on a mechanism that ran the doors. "Hey, old guy," said Gaius. The man turned his face toward him briefly before returning to his work. "Old man, you hear? I want to know what sorta gym this is, and I want to know who runs it. Oh, and I want to know what you're working on."

"I'm fixing the machines that open the doors," said the man. "This is a fire-type gym. The Leader is Blaine."

"Alright," said Gaius, grinning. "Where's he at, old guy?"

The old man stood. "I am Blaine."

Gaius' expression didn't falter. "Even better!" he said, as Quenelle tossed his head and stamped his feet in excitement. "I'd like to challenge you to a fight."

"You? No, I don't think you'd be much of a match for me," said Blaine. "You obviously don't have the discipline and respect to be a good trainer.

Gaius frowned. "Really? That's sad to know," he said. He pulled open his coat, revealing eight badges—one from each of the gyms of the Johto region. "Guess these guys made a mistake, then, huh?"

Blaine grimaced. "Fine. I'll battle you," he said. "It's a gym leader's duty to take on all challengers, I guess—even the rude ones."

"Alright!" said Gaius, pumping one fist in the air. "Here we go! Quen—you're my man! Let's do it!"

"Taur!" said Quenelle, leaping forward, Gaius still mounted one his back.

"Arcanine, go," said Blaine, throwing out his pokemon. With a growl, the Arcanine appeared. "Fire blast!"

"Quenelle! Surf!" said Gaius, leaning forward on his pokemon.

The arcanine's attack came at them, but Quenelle leapt nimbly out of the way. The tauros slammed his hooves down with a rumble. Suddenly, an enormous wave appeared, which bore Quenelle and Gaius up, upon its crest. It crashed down on the arcanine, fainting it immediately. Gaius laughed. "That was fun, that was fun," he said, as Blaine returned his pokemon. He held out his hand. "Badge, please?"

With a grumble, Blaine handed over the badge. Gaius smiled, watching the light glint off it, and then showed it to Quenelle before pinning it inside of his jacket next to the others. "Thanks, old guy," he said, turning his tauros to the door. "Oh, point of interest—have you seen a boy with blond hair, kind of short, goes by the name Arden?"

"Can't say I have."

Gaius frowned. "Eh, alright," he said, rubbing his beloved tauros' neck. "Well, hey, old guy, where can I get to from here where there are other gyms?"

"Fuchsia has a gym," Blaine told him. "Just go out past the Sea Foam islands, and then head north. You… you didn't come from there? I mean, I've only seen tauros in their Safari Zone…"

"Safari Zone?" Gaius repeated. "Well, that sounds like fun. C'mon, Quen, let's go check it out!"

"Taur!" said Quen, tossing his head. He broke into a run as the gym doors opened before him. Full gallop, he raced over the dusty path through Cinnabar, and hit the ocean still running. His hooves did not sink into the water but, instead, he ran atop the waves, his tails cracking like whips behind him. As the tauros raced over the water, Gaius closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the sea breeze.

"This is a good vacation," he said.

"Taur," agreed Quenelle.

"It's too bad about the circumstances of it," he said. "I'd have liked to have come here on my own time, with happier news…"

"Taur," Quenelle said.

"Even so," Gaius said. "It can't be all bad. I can make this a good time. We'll go get a few more gym badges while we try to find baby brother. I mean, just because the news is grim doesn't mean we have to be, right Quen?"

"Taur!" said the tauros, splashing water about with his hooves as he ran across the waves.

A/N: 'kay. I'm not sure what to draw now, so I've decided I'll take requests, if any one has them? Is there anything you'd like to see involving these characters or their pokemon?


	34. Celadon City Gym

Arden was impressed by Celadon city when he entered it. It was large and lively—for a city in Kanto. Of course, it was nothing like Goldenrod but, then, nothing was ever just like Goldenrod. Gentry, who had, until then, been sitting peacefully in his arms began to squirm.

"Hey, watch it," said Arden, grabbing him under the arms and holding him away from himself. "What's your problem all the sudden?"

"Nii nii niiidoran!" shouted the pokemon, thrashing about. He knocked Arden's hands loose and the boy dropped him. Gentry landed on his feet on the fitted-brick street, and began to run.

"Gentry!" shouted Arden, giving chase. "Come back here! You're not allowed to just desert my team because we reached a city!"

The nidoran paid him no mind and continued to run. Arden followed after, as fast as he could, shouting for Gentry to stop. He chased the pokemon down streets, across squares, and through alley ways. Finally, Gentry ran into a house through the open door, Arden still in hot pursuit.

"Gentry? Arden?" said a familiar female voice.

Arden looked around, his eyes widening. "Uh—hey, Iris."

"Niido!" shouted Gentry, leaping into the girl's lap.

Iris blinked. "What are you doing in my house?"

"I'm, uh…" Arden rubbed the back of his neck, and then gestured vaguely at the nidoran. "He wanted to visit you."

Iris smiled, and hugged Gentry. "Is that right?" she said. "You're such a sweetie, Gen!"

"Niido, niido," said the pokemon, nuzzling her.

"Have a seat," said Iris, motioning to the table she was, herself, seated at. Arden pulled out a chair and sat down. "So, what brings you guys to Celadon?"

"We're going to challenge the gym here."

"Erika's gym?" asked Iris. "Well, that's brave of you. She's really quite tough. She's got a whole bunch of very pretty grass pokemon."

"Well, I'm not afraid of any grass pokemon," said Arden, crossing his arms. "I mean, they're weak anyway, aren't they? And I've got a fire pokemon. He can take her."

"You sound confident," noted Iris.

"Yeah, I guess," Arden said with a shrug. "So—how's Brain Damage?"

"Brain? He's uh… He does alright," she said, scratching Gentry behind the ears. "I don't think he's completely right in the head, however."

"You don't say."

Iris checked her watch. "I have an appointment I have to keep," she said, standing. Arden stood as well. "Sorry to be rude, but…"

"No, not at all," Arden said. "We need to be going, anyway. Gym challenge and all that…"

She handed Gentry to him. "Now, Gen, you be good to Arden. Treat him just like you'd treat me, alright? I know you will—you're such a kind little pokemon."

"Niido," sighed Gentry, his eyes tearing up. He reached out a paw toward Iris.

"Good bye," Arden said, leaving. Iris waved to them as she closed the door. Gentry lay limply in his arms as he traversed Celadon's streets, looking for the gym. "It has to be around here somewhere… Ah, damnit! I've passed that stupid department store like six times already!"

Arden gave a frustrated sigh and leaned against a fence post. He looked down at Gentry. "What about you? You know this place, right?"

"Nii," murmured Gentry, half-heartedly.

"Can you show me where the gym is?"

The nidoran shrugged. "Nii."

"Come on. Don't mope. Help me out some," said Arden, setting Gentry on the ground. "Show me where the gym is."

With another sigh, the little pokemon started along. Arden followed him to a forested area south of the city. "A park?" he asked as Gentry lead him down a path. Erika's gym came into view, shielded from the city by tall, leafy trees. Arden picked up Gentry and hugged him. "Alright! Way to go!"

"N-nii," said Gentry, rubbing his head against Arden softly. Arden ran toward the gym, entering it with vigor.

The inside housed a grove of trees. "Gah!" said Arden, fanning himself with one hand. "It's like a green house in here! Why would someone want to spend their time in a gym like this?"

He made his way through the trees looking for the gym leader. A neat little path lead through some of it, but the rest of it was long grass, which radiated a sort of humidity. Thoroughly uncomfortable, Arden came upon a young woman asleep beneath a tree. He cocked his head to one side. "That her?" he asked Gentry.

"Do," said Gentry, nodding.

Arden knelt down next to Erika and shook her shoulder. Slowly she opened her eyes, and looked up at him. Arden felt his heart flutter at the beautiful woman's gaze. "Oh, I must of dozed off," she said in a sweet, musical voice. "It's such a nice day…"

"We're… indoors," Arden said.

"Oh," said Erika. She looked around. "Why, so we are! …is it a nice day outside, too?"

"Y-yeah, I guess," Arden said. "You're the gym leader here?"

"Yes, I am," she answered. "I also arrange flowers here. It's a very soothing, harmonious activity. You should try it some time."

"Ah, duly noted," mumbled Arden. "But, uh, what I came here for was a pokemon battle."

"Oh, you're a trainer? I had no idea," she said, standing. "Forgive me, I didn't realize you wanted a battle." She held up a pokeball. "Go tangela."

Arden tossed out his ball. "Blazer, get in there!"

"Vul!" shouted Blazer, as both he and the opposing pokemon appeared in the field.

"Tangela, use growth," said Erika.

"Blaze—flamethrower!"

The vulpix growled and arched his back before shoot a stream of flame from his mouth at the tangela. The flames hit it, causing it to recoil in pain. It spun and fell to the ground, unconscious. "Vuulpix!"

Erika returned the fainted pokemon to its pokeball. She held up another. "Go, gloom."

The gloom appeared, waving its arms and drooling. "Gloooom!"

"Ember, Blaze!"

"Gloom, megadrain!"

Blazer shot a blast of fire from his mouth, striking the grass pokemon. It shook, and squealed, rubbing out the fire. It leaned forward, and the leaves on its head began to glow as it sucked energy from Blazer. The vulpix gritted his teeth, and flattened his ears as he felt the vigor leaving him.

"Blazer! Don't you take that sitting down! Flamethrower!"

"Vul!" said the pokemon, arching his back. He attacked, and the fire struck the gloom head-on. It fell down, fainted. "Pix!"

Erika recalled it. "I'm impressed. Your pokemon's quite good," she said. "Here—the rainbow badge."

Arden set down Gentry and took the badge. "Cool," he said as Blazer rubbed against his leg. Gentry glared at the vulpix and, flattening his ears, nuzzled Arden's other leg. "Ugh—stop that you guys. It's so creepy."

"If you'd like to stay, I can teach you how to arrange flowers," said Erika. "It's greatly relaxing."

"Ah, no thanks," said Arden, pushing his pokemon away from himself. "I need to get going. By the way, where's the closest gym to here?"

"Well, Saffron's closest, but the gatehouse is closed," she said. "But, Fuchsia city is a short ride down Cycling Road away. It's a very nice place. It's by the ocean and it has a Safari Zone."

"Safari Zone?" said Arden. "What's that?"

"It's a reserve for catching rare pokemon."

"Ah! Awesome!" exclaimed Arden. "Let's go, guys!"

He turned and began to run. Gentry and Blazer ran after him, pushing each other into trees as they went.

_**A/N:** The first request picture is finished and up on my DA, and I'm currently working on the second request. 's currently being weird, and I can't seem to edit my profile now, but it should be easy enough to find using any of the other links to pictures thereon. I'll have the link up as soon as I can._


	35. Cycling Road

"Why would they make a path this steep?" asked Arden, sitting on his bike at the top of Cycling Road. Gentry was perched on his shoulder and Blazer sat in front of him on the bike, between his body and the handle bars. They had fought nearly the whole way to the road, until Arden threatened to put them both back in their pokeballs if they didn't get along. The pokemon stopped bickering, but their looks and actions toward one another were still icy cold, for reasons Arden couldn't figure and—furthermore—just wasn't interested in investigating.

Taking a deep breath, Arden pedaled over the edge of the incline. He regretted it immediately. His bike sped down the path wildly, swerving from side to side as he tried to get it under control. Gentry dug his nails into Arden's coat, but to no avail; the nidoran fell backwards off the bike and hit the ground rolling. Blazer just whimpered and covered his face with his paws while Arden screamed.

With an echoing crash, he and his bike careened into a young man on a motorcycle, knocking the both of them down. "Hey!" said the biker, getting angrily to his feet. "What'd you do that for, spaz?!"

"I—I'm sorry," said Arden, pushing Blazer off of himself, and sitting up. He lifted his bicycle off his legs and stood. "I kinda lost control… Ah—where did Gentry go?" He looked around.

"Hey, you wrecked my bike! You've got to pay for it, man!" said the biker.

Arden's eyes widened. "What? You've got to be kidding me!" he said. "It was an accident! Besides, it wouldn't have happened if you were watching where you were going."

"Watch where _I _was going? You crashed into me! I was ridin' along just fine, and then you came out of no where and hit me!"

"No, _you _came out of no where, and I couldn't avoid you!"

"Oh, that is it," spat the biker. He held up a pokeball. "We're gonna settle this like this! Go, koffing!"

"Eeeh, fine," said Arden. "Thief, go!"

"Meeow!" shouted Thief, as he was released from his ball. The koffing appeared before him.

"Koffing, use smog!"

"Thief—pay day!"

Thief arched his back and fired a stream of coins which struck the opposing monster soundly. The koffing grunted and contracted his body, spewing a purple cloud of toxins, which wafted over the meowth. Thief shivered as the smog burned his lungs and poisoned him.

"Come on, Thief—do better than that," said Arden. "Use cut!"

Summoning his strength, the meowth leapt at the enemy koffing, swiping with his claws. The koffing groaned as the claws stuck true. Thief landed and winced in pain as the poison caused him more damage.

"Koffing, use smog again!"

The spherical pokemon released another cloud of noxious poison on the already poisoned meowth. Thief shuddered again at the poison.

"Finish him, Thief—scratch!"

Thief swiped at the biker's pokemon, cutting it across the face. With a moan, the koffing fainted and the biker recalled it. "Meeoow," said Thief, gritting his teeth as the pain of being poisoned echoed in his body. He shuddered once again, and his body began to glow.

"Eh—Thief?" said Arden.

With a brilliant flash, the meowth began to change. The light cleared away, revealing his new form as a Persian. "Peeersian," said the pokemon.

"Well, alright!" said Arden, putting his hand on Thief's back and feeling his silky fur. "Now that's somethin'! You're stronger now, right?"

"Peeeer," said Thief. He shuddered as the poison continued to affect him.

"Well, alright, take a rest," said Arden, holding up his pokeball. Thief disappeared into it with a flash and Arden mounted his bike once again. He picked up Blazer and set him in front of himself, once again, before looking around. "But, now, where did—ah! There he is! Gentry!"

Arden waved his arm at the little nidoran, who was running down the road as fast as his tiny legs would carry him. He tripped and began to roll down, picking up speed as he did. "Ah!" shouted Arden as Gentry rolled past. "Too far! Too far! –Gah! I'm coming, Gentry!"

He began to pedal, picking up quite a bit of speed himself very rapidly. Soon he was neck and neck with Gentry, both of them rolling down the path with uncontrollable swiftness. The bike swerved close to the rolling nidoran and one of his spikes caught in its spokes, causing the bike to buck its riders. Boy and bike rolled together with nidoran and vulpix in a huge heap down the path, and off a short ledge. They hit the ground bellow still rolling and smacked against a fence. Groaning, Arden disentangle himself from the others and stood. "Ah, my head," he moaned. He looked down. "Ah! My bike!"

Indeed, it was completely ruined—the spokes were bent, the chain was broken, and the frame was a twisted mess. Blazer stood up, wobbling, and Gentry sat on his haunches, dizzied and confused. With a sigh, Arden tossed his bike over the fence and into the ocean. "Oh well," he said. "I'm better off without it, anyway. Let's get going, guys."

He scooped up Gentry, causing Blazer to give the nidoran a pointed glare, and started toward the gatehouse into Fuchsia, with his vulpix padding along behind him, shimmering in the afternoon sun.


	36. Safari Zone

Arden hobbled into Fuchsia city and was vaguely disappointed. After seeing Celadon, Fuchsia was an immense let-down—just a sleepy little town by a gentle ocean. The air smelt of saltwater and, yet, it had none of the charm of the port city Vermillion. Frowning, Arden walked along through the city, holding Gentry while Blazer followed at his heels. His eyes brightened as he spotted a building proudly displaying a sign which read 'Safari Zone'.

The young trainer made his way to the building and entered it to find a long hall with two men sitting at desks on opposing walls. "Is this the Safari Zone?" asked Arden.

"Yup," said one of the men, smiling. "Would you like to play the safari game? You get thirty special balls to use in the allotted time, and any pokemon you catch are yours to keep. Only five hundred to play."

"Ah, yeah—that sounds good," said Arden, digging into his pocket for his wallet. He handed the man the money.

"You'll have to leave your pokemon here, though, while you play," the man told him. "Safari Zone rules."

Arden frowned. "This is a place filled with strong pokemon, right?"

"Certainly," the man said.

"But I can't take my pokemon in with me, right?"

"Those are the rules."

"So," said Arden. "What do I do if I'm attacked by one of these strong pokemon?"

The two men looked at each other. "Uh… Throw—throw a rock at it?" suggested one.

The other nodded emphatically. "Yes, throw a rock at it. Exactly!"

Arden groaned. "You have to be kidding me," he said. "Wouldn't throwing a rock just make it angry?"

"Uh…," said the men, as they looked at each other again. "…no….?"

With a sigh, Arden returned his pokemon to their balls and set the pokeballs on the counter. "You're just lucky my curiosity outweighs my fear in this case."

"Have a good time," said the man, taking his pokeballs, and handing him a bag filled with camouflage colored ones. "We'll call you when your time is up."

With another sigh, Arden headed into the Safari Zone proper. The area was a sort of savanna, nestled inside a forest and separated from it with a long fence. Tall, dry grass covered the ground, and ponds and rises and small trees with wide-spread branches dotted the landscape. Arden made his way across the grounds, keeping a sharp eye out for any pokemon. A chansey came into view and he hurled a ball at it, only to have it escape and flee into the tall grass. Gritting his teeth, Arden chased after it, but it was no use—the chansey was gone. Arden kicked a clump of grass angrily.

"Stupid chansey," he mumbled, leaning against a ledge. He glanced sideways as a faint movement at the edge of his vision caught his eye. As he watched, three long, thin, whip-like tails flicked through the air at the corner of the ledge. _Tauros, _Arden thought, nodding to himself. Readying a pokeball, he edged along toward it as quietly as he could. For a moment, he waited at the corner, taking a deep breath. After all, if he missed and the tauros got angry, he could very well be a gonner.

Gathering up his courage, Arden lunged out behind the tauros and threw the safari ball. "Go, pokeball!" he shouted.

The tauros cracked its tails, knocking the ball out of the air, and smashing it in twain. Arden gulped as the tauros snorted and turned around, its head lowered and ready to charge. It dug on hoof in the ground, "Tauros!"

"Damn," said Arden, tensing.

But the tauros didn't charge. Instead it titled its head to one side and straightened up. "Taur?" said the pokemon. After a moment, it pounded its hooves on the ground happily. "Taur-aur-aur-auros!"

"Qu—Quenelle?" asked Arden, hopefully.

The tauros tossed his head. "Taur-aur-auros!" Happily, he pranced up to Arden and licked his face sloppily.

"H-hey, Quen," said Arden, rubbing the tauros' neck. "Where's Gaius?"

"Here!" said the boisterous voice of his older brother. Arden glanced around and saw a raised hand behind a large rock.

"What're you doing back there?" asked Arden. "Can't even come say 'hello' to your own brother?"

"I'm taking a piss," Gaius answered, lowering his hand. "I mean, I'll come out if you want, but I didn't think that we were ever _that _close."

"Eurgh. Nevermind, just—ehk—just stay there until you're done," said Arden turning away.

"Will do," said Gaius. "I drank a lot of lemonade on my way here, you see. And riding pokemon-back, well… it just sort of knocks your bladder around, y'know?"

"No, I didn't know," said Arden. "I didn't need to know either."

"Baby brother, these are life lessons," Gaius said. "Someone needs to teach you these things. God knows you need some good life lessons. Else wise, I just don't think you'll make it…" He paused. "Hey, do you suppose it's dangerous for me to take a leak here? I mean, do you think a nidorino might pop up out of nowhere and bite it off? That would suck."

"Gross," said Arden wincing. "Don't say things like that."

"I'm just wondering if maybe I should've held it," he said. "Not that that wouldn't be a whole new set of predicaments. I hear if you hold it too long, you can rupture your pee-tubes."

"Ureters."

"Right, whatever," Gaius said. "Anyway, hold it to long and they come loose from your kidneys, and start flapping around inside you like fire hoses, spraying piss all over your intestines."

Arden made a gagging sound. "Jeez, Gaius—could you get any more disturbed?"

"I dunno—probably," Gaius said, coming out from behind the rock as he zipped up his fly. "Hey, baby brother! How's it hanging?"

"F-fine, just fine," said Arden, rubbing Quenelle's nose. "How'd you manage to get Quen in here? I thought they didn't allow pokemon to be brought in. …come to think of it, what are you doing here at all?"

"Well, they don't allow pokemon to be brought in, as a general rule, but, y'know, I could always persuade most people to loosen the rules a bit," Gaius said. He spread his arms. "Now, give your big brother a hug!"

"Eugh—don't touch me," said Arden, putting Quenelle between them. "I know exactly where those hands have been."

Gaius laughed, and hopped up onto his tauros. "So, you came to the safari zone, too, huh, baby brother?" he said, looking down at Arden. Arden hated having to talk to him while he was mounted on his pokemon; it made him feel small. "Whatcha looking for?"

"I don't know," Arden said, kicking a rock. "Anything, I guess."

"So, you still can't train your way out of a paper bag, huh?" asked Gaius. "I'm not surprised."

Arden scowled. "No, that's not what I meant!" he said. "I just… haven't been so lucky with the pokemon I've caught. It's—it's beyond my control."

Gaius laughed and shook his head. "Nonsense!" he said. "A good trainer can train any pokemon! Why—now, you remember Daryle, right?"

"Yeah, of course I do."

"Well, I trained him up right good," Gaius said shifting his body so he was sitting side-saddle on the tauros. "Now he's a powerhouse, and he's obedient, and he's intensely loyal."

Arden sighed. "It's not like I never admitted you were a better trainer than me. I've said that a thousand times."

"I like to hear it," said Gaius, grinning broadly. "Say it again, baby brother. Say it again."

Rolling his eyes, Arden said flatly, "You're a better trainer than me, Gaius."

"Yes I am," Gaius said. "Yes I am."

"And since you're so much better than I am," said Arden. "I was wondering if you'd be willing to help me with a problem pokemon."

"Anything for baby brother," said Gaius, leaning down and tussling Arden's hair with one massive hand. "Just show me the pokemon, and I'll whip it into shape."

"Ah! Disgusting!" said Arden, smacking his hand away. "Your hand! The hand you peed with! Ah, gross!"

Gaius laughed, and Quenelle began to trot toward the gate of the safari zone. "Relax," he said. "We'll got to the ocean and you just swim it off, okay?"

"Gross, gross, gross," Arden repeated over and over as he followed, twitching and flailing his arms. Gaius laughed again.

_**A/N: **Oh, Gaius--seriously, now, if you had a big brother, wasn't he like this at least -some- of the time? _

_Anyway, the picture of Dixie and Arden is now linked on my profile, as is Arden and the cleffairy. So my request queue is wiiiide open. I'd love to have more requests--gives me something to do when I'm worn out on writing, y'know. Anyway, thank you all kindly for reading. Next chapter should be up soon._


	37. Fuchsia City

Gaius dismounted Quenelle on the beach, while Arden stripped down to his boxers and ran into the ocean, leaving his clothes behind in a messy heap. With a sigh, Gaius strolled over to his little brother's clothes, his tauros following him. He picked them up and started to fold them. "Messy, messy, messy baby brother," he murmured, shaking his head.

"I'm not going to take time to fold them," Arden said, wading farther into the sea. "You got pee residue in my hair!"

Gaius shrugged and held up Arden's belt, looking at the pokeballs attached. "What's this girly one here? With the sticker?" he asked. "I mean, jeez, Arden, I didn't know you were so limp-wristed."

"I got it in a trade," Arden said, scowling. "It's a nidoran."

"So, which one of these needs training?" asked Gaius, holding up one of the pokeballs to Quenelle, who sniffed it. "What d'you got for me, baby brother? An unruly charizard? A aerodactyl that is too high-leveled to obey you? A fierce electabuzz? A reckless and vicious rapidash? Whatever it is, I can break it."

"It's a, uh, pikachu," Arden said quietly, before dunking his head underwater.

Gaius raised on eyebrow. "Did he say… pikachu?" the young man asked his tauros.

"Taur," said Quenelle, nodding slightly.

Arden remerged from the water. Gaius called out to him, "Now, did you say it was a _pikachu _that you need trained? Like, the little yellow rodent pokemon?"

"Hey," said Arden, climbing back onto the beach. "It's not just a pikachu, it's a rash and blood-thirsty beast of a pikachu!"

Gaius laughed as Quenelle snorted and tossed his head. Arden bit his lip and furrowed his brow. "No, seriously, you guys!" he said. "He—he killed another pokemon!"

Gaius stopped laughing. "For real?" Arden nodded. "Hm… That's troubling. A pokemon that kills…" He bit his bottom lip and leaned against Quenelle.

"So, you don't think you'll be able to train him?" Arden asked, somewhat crestfallen.

"Now, I didn't say that," pointed out Gaius, wagging one finger at his little brother. "I can train any pokemon, and don't you forget that. All I said was it was troubling. And I mean it the same way that, say, seeing someone with their intestines on the outside of their body might be troubling. It's disturbing and unnatural, I mean—not completely unfixable."

"So, you think you can train him?"

"Just what do I keep telling you, baby brother? Of course I can." He held up Arden's belt. "Which pokeball's your pikachu in."

Arden pulled one of the balls from the belt. "This is him. His name is Cruelty," he said, holding it out to Gaius. "C-careful, though."

Gaius took it. "I honestly don't think I'm in much danger," he said, patting Quenelle. The tauros stomped his hooves and cracked his tails. "Go, Cruelty!"

With a howl of, "Kaaachuu!", the pokemon was released from its spherical prison. Cruelty hunched over on the sand, the blood still matted in his fur, his eyes darting about and coming to rest on Quenelle. He bared his teeth at the tauros, who only looked back at him mildly. The pikachu lunged at the tauros.

"Quen—stomp!" said Gaius.

Quenelle reared up and brought his hooves down hard on the charging pikachu's back, pinning him to the ground. Struggle as he might, Cruelty could neither free himself nor attack the tauros. Gaius knelt down beside Cruelty. "You going to behave, now, pal?" he asked.

"Ka. Chu," growled Cruelty, his cheeks sparking. Gaius back handed him swiftly.

"That's not the sort of thing we like to hear," he said.

The pikachu narrowed his eyes at Gaius. "Piiika!" he snarled, his cheeks sparking again. As he prepared for an electric attack, Quenelle dug his hooves in harder. Cruelty's attack broke off as he winced with pain. "Ka!"

From an overhang on a high ledge, Dixie watched the brothers with Bruno at his side. Normally, nothing could have convinced him to ever step foot in Fuchsia again. However, after his job in Lavender fell apart—the result of an old man and a young trainer—he thought perhaps he had been cold to Arden when they parted. Wanting to apologize, he'd tried to go after him to Celadon City, but had met Bruno on his way there, whom had conveyed to him that Arden was gone and headed to Fuchsia. So it was that Dixie ended up in the city he hated most, watching Arden and his brother on the beach, and feeling vaguely upset, and vaguely jealous.

"Shrew?" Bruno asked him quietly.

Dixie rubbed the pokemon's head. "You did good, Bruno," he said. "Looks like everything's fine here. Why don't we go somewhere else and I'll introduce you to your new ground-type buddy?"

"Shrew!" exclaimed Bruno happily.

Smiling tightly, Dixie glanced back down at the brothers one more time, before leaving down the other side of the ledge with his sandshrew. Down below, Arden said to Gaius, "Don't hurt him!"

"He's fine," said Gaius, waving off his little brother concerns. "Sometimes you just have to be tough with a pokemon like this."

"Cha!" growled Cruelty.

"He doesn't seem too receptive of your technique," noted Arden.

Gaius stood up. "Yeah, he's going to be a tough one," he said, holding up the pikachu's ball. With a flash of light, Cruelty withdrew inside it. "Tell ya what, this is going to be more difficult than I thought. How about I take this pikachu for a little while, and then give him back to you when he's learned some discipline?"

"What?" said Arden. "No way! That's my strongest pokemon!"

"Chill, baby brother," Gaius said. "I mean, if you want him trained…"

Arden crossed his arms. "Well… you'll have to lend me one of your pokemon in return."

Gaius laughed. "Won't do you much good," he said. "I mean, of course I will, but it's not like you'll actually be able to _use _one my pokemon."

"Why not?"

"Well, they're too high-leveled, of course!" Gaius said, opening his jacket. He motioned to his badges. "Unless you've got eight badges, half my pokemon wouldn't listen to you. The other half won't listen to anyone with, say, less than six."

"W-what about Quenelle?" asked Arden, motioning to the tauros. Quenelle tilted his head to the side. "I've known him since I was little, and he's a really good pokemon—wouldn't he listen to me?"

"He might, but trading you Quen is completely out of the question," Gaius said. "Quen and I are like brothers!"

"_I'm _your brother!"

"Well, can you blame me for liking Quen better?"

Arden scowled. "Well, what about Daryle?"

Gaius laughed. "Oh, no way—you couldn't even begin to handle Daryle."

"No, I mean last time we spoke," Arden said. "You said that Daryle had an egg. Did that hatch?"

"Yeah, it did."

"So, can I have that pokemon?" asked Arden.

Gaius rubbed the back of his head. "Well, actually," he said slowly. "I already gave that one to Felicia."

Arden's mouth dropped open. "What—Felicia?! But why?"

"Well, she called me up asking about it, and I couldn't get a hold of you," Gaius said, shrugging. "Besides, she's a nice girl and a good trainer. I figured he'd be in good hands."

"He would've been in good hands with me!" objected Arden.

"Sorry, baby brother," said Gaius. "You were all the way over here in Kanto."

"Well, you're here now—obviously it wouldn't have been too much a problem for you to just come here!"

"Yeah, but I didn't want to," Gaius said. "Actually, I'm only here now delivering a message."

"A message? To who?"

"To you."

Arden raised his eye brows. "What sort of message?"

"Well, I came here to tell you," Gaius said. "That dad died. I'm here to bring you home for the funeral."


	38. Fuchsia City II

"Dad _died?_" asked Arden, breathlessly.

"Yeah," and Gaius. "The funerals in a few days. I was supposed to tell you, and bring you back to Goldenrod for the service."

Arden shook his head. "N-no. No, that's too soon," he said.

"Ah, not at all," Gaius responded, smacking Quenelle's flank. "Quen here's fast enough to get us back home in a day, at the most. You ride with me, and it'll be just fine. We'll get there with plenty of time to—"

"No," said Arden. "What I mean is, I can't… go back to Goldenrod. Not now."

"What do you mean?" asked Gaius. "Didn't you hear what I said? Dad is dead. You know—the man who raised us? Him? Brought you into the world? Yeah. He's dead, Arden. You have to come to his funeral."

"No," Arden said again. "If I go back to Goldenrod, everyone's going to say how they knew I didn't have it in me to be a trainer, and how I've come crawling back."

"No one's going to say that."

"Yes they will!" said Arden angrily. "You don't know what it's like! They always supported _you_, while at the same time turning around and laughing at me for the same damn thing!"

Gaius' gaze softened. "Arden," he said. "You shouldn't talk like that. C'mon. They're your family and they love you…"

"I don't care," Arden said. "I'm not going back to Goldenrod. Maybe not ever—but certainly not now."

"But, Dad's funeral…"

"No one will care if I'm there or if I'm not there," Arden said, looking down.

Gaius grabbed his shoulder tightly—tight enough that it hurt. Arden yelped and looked up at him accusingly. "Now, I don't want to hear you say anything like that ever again, okay?" said Gaius. "You need to stop being so self pitting and realize that we love you, and we care when you're not around. I mean, for fuck's sake—why do you think I'm here if no one cares if you're at the funeral or not?"

Arden stared at the ground. Slowly, Gaius loosed his grip on the younger boy's shoulder. Crossing his arms, he turned away. "I can't make you go to the funeral," he said. "Well, I can—but I'm not going to. You've got your reasons and—and, well, they're stupid reasons, but I'm not going to make you come back to Goldenrod with me."

"Thank you," Arden mumbled.

"I'm going to take that pikachu of yours with me, though," said Gaius. "After the funeral, I'll come give him back to you. I dunno how perfectly I can train him in a few days, but I'm gonna try to get him under control for you, baby brother."

"Wait—where does that leave me, pokemon-wise?" said Arden.

"I'll… I'll leave Quen with you," Gaius said, resting his hand on the tauros' shoulder. Quenelle licked the side of his trainer's face with his enormous tongue. "It'll just be for a few days, anyway."

"B-but don't you need Quenelle to get back to Goldenrod in time for Dad's funeral?"

Gaius shrugged. "I'll manage," he said, taking one of the pokeballs off his belt and replacing it with Cruelty's. He handed the pokeball he'd removed to Arden. "Now, you two be good to each other, alright?"

Arden held the pokeball tightly. Across the bottom of it was a sticker which said 'Quenelle' in sharp blue letters. "Th-thanks, Gaius."

"I'll see you guys soon, then," said Gaius. He kissed Quenelle on the forehead before doing the same to Arden. "Stay outta trouble, baby brother, okay?"

Arden nodded. Gaius started away, waving to Arden and Quenelle over his shoulder. Arden watched him disappear from sight, around the side of a ledge. Quenelle looked at Arden obediently. "Uh—hey, Quen. Let me get dressed and we'll, uh, we'll get going, okay?"

"Taur-aur-auros!"

Around the other side of the ledge that enclosed the beach, Dixie sat with Bruno and a cubone. Gaius came around the corner, walking with a sort of strut. "Ah," he said, making Dixie jump with surprise. "I thought I saw someone watching us from the ledge there."

"Watching? I wasn't—"

"I saw you, man," Gaius said. "Lying's a little lame, don't ya think?"

Dixie was silent.

"If you ain't going to explain yourself," Gaius said, pulling a pokeball marked 'Daryle' from his belt. "I'm gonna just assume you're a threat to myself and my baby brother. And I know how to deal with threats, kid."

Dixie raised his hands. "I'm no threat to either of you. Honest."

"Shrew," said Bruno, tensing up. He glared at Gaius, and the young man could tell that the pokemon was ready to defend its trainer against anything.

"If you're not a threat, what're you skulking around about, huh?" asked Gaius, rolling his pokeball around in his hand.

"I was just… Just keeping an eye on Arden," Dixie said, blushing slightly. "Watching out for him…"

"Yeah, and I'm gonna believe that from a Team Rocket mook?" asked Gaius holding his pokeball forward. "I'm no idiot, buster. I know what that big 'R' across your chest stands for, and it ain't 'Respectable Member of the Community'."

"Look, I don't want to fight," said Dixie, as Bruno growled beside him. "Bruno—stop it. –Look, I honestly have no ill intentions toward you or toward Arden. In fact, I saved his life."

"Oh yeah?" asked Gaius, still holding forth his pokeball. Dixie wasn't sure what was inside of the ball, but he was sure he'd regret finding out.

Dixie nodded vigorously. "Yes—he accidentally got poisoned by one of his pokemon, and I gave him an antidote and brought him somewhere he could recover."

"He didn't mention that," Gaius said, not sounding too convinced.

"That doesn't mean it didn't happen," said Dixie.

"Technically true," responded the other, lowering his pokeball a little. "However, you'll understand if I don't take you at your word, kid."

"I swear on my mother's life," said Dixie.

"Oh, you should never swear on your mom's life. That's bad luck."

"Look," Dixie said. "We can head around the ledge here and ask Arden about it. He knows me, and knows that I never tried to harm him."

Gaius stared at him for a long moment. Finally, he clipped his pokeball back to the belt around his chest. "I'm gonna go ahead and let you be for now, kiddo," said Gaius. "But I'm gonna keep an eye on you. I know all sorts of people all around the world. So it's gonna get back to me if you hurt a hair on my baby brother's head, alright? And if that happens, I'm gonna come find you—and it won't matter where you are—and I'm gonna beat the livin' shit out of you." He half turned to start away, and then stopped suddenly. "If you're just lookin' out for baby brother, like you said, though… Well, then, you've got my gratitude and my friendship."

He turned fully away from Dixie and walked off with his strutting walk. Dixie watched him with wide eyes. "What an odd guy," said the Rocket grunt to his pokemon when Gaius was gone. "He must love Arden a whole lot to be so protective of him…"

"Sandshrew," said Bruno.

"Booone," agreed the little cubone.

Dixie stood. "For sure, he's not someone I want to tangle with, a trainer like that."

Wiping the sand off his uniform, he walked around the ledge. Ahead of him, he could see Arden on Quenelle's back, riding through Fuchsia city toward the gym. Returning Bruno to his pokeball and lifting his cubone up onto his shoulders, Dixie started to follow, but was stopped almost immediately by the familiar sound of a woman's voice calling his name. He turned slowly to see a woman, well into her middle age, with a basket of laundry at her hip staring at him with wide, tired eyes.

"Hello, mother," he said.

_**A/N:**__ A new requested picture is up—link on my profile. I feel like this chapter took an almost unacceptably long time, and I'm sorry. I was distracted by a side project; my brother and I are making a Death Note Abridged Series. It's finished, actually, except Windows Movie Maker doesn't seem to like the idea of me saving it as a movie. Whenever I get the program to cooperate, I'll be putting up a link to it on my profile. So, if you're a Death Note fan, be sure to keep an eye out for that._


	39. Fuchsia City Gym

"We're gonna have a good time together, Quen," Arden said as the tauros clomped along beneath him. "You'll see. We'll have a great time 'till Gaius comes back for you. And you're going to win me a whole ton of battles."

"Taaaauros," said Quenelle, tossing his head as he trotted up to the doors of the Fuchsia City Pokemon Gym. They crossed the thresh hold into the gym, and Arden dismounted sloppily, falling down on his face. Scrambling to his feet, Arden looked around.

He could see the gym leader at the center of the building, and made toward him—only to encounter a hard, invisible resistance. "Ouch!" Rubbing his nose, Arden reached up a hand. He touched a wall that was completely invisible. "What on earth? –invisible walls? That's a cheap trick!"

"Auros!" said Quenelle, tossing his head and pounding the ground with his hooves.

"Quen—break it down," said Arden.

The tauros snorted. "Aur-aur-aur-auros."

"What?" asked Arden. "Come on Quenelle—you're strong enough to break it!"

The pokemon turned and walked away, along the wall, trying to find a different way to the leader. With a sigh, Arden followed him. "Fine, whatever," he said. "My way's quicker, but what ever…"

Quenelle clomped along through the gym, occasionally pressing his head against the wall to make sure he was still beside it. Arden followed him along through the seemingly random twists and turns of the invisible hallway. "This isn't working," Arden said. "Look—we're actually getting further away from the gym leader!"

His brother's tauros continued on, paying him no mind. With a frustrated sigh, Arden continued along behind him. After a bit, it became evident to Arden that they were, in fact, getting closer. "Who designs a gym like this?" Arden mumbled. "Seriously. Invisible walls;—is it just too hard to make a straight forward gym?"

Quenelle snorted. "Taur-aur-aur-auros," he said, as they reached the leader of the gym. The man turned to face them.

"A challenger?" he said. "Impressive that you got past my invisible ninja walls!"

"Yeah, about that," said Arden. "I was under the impression that this was a pokemon gym, not a fun house, so…"

"I am Koga," said the man. "I'm a ninja master, who deals in poison type pokemon—"

"Ninja?" asked Arden. "What are you, five?"

"Huh?"

"Pretending you're a ninja," Arden said. "It's something a five-year-old would do. You call yourself a ninja master, build invisible walls inside your gym… Quite honestly, I've got to wonder what the other gym leaders say about you when you're not around."

"L-lots of gym leaders put obstacles in their gyms," Koga said quietly.

"Like who?"

"Well, Erika, and Surge…"

"Yeah, but at least those obstacles were relevant," Arden pointed out. "Erika's gym was full of trees. She was a grass type leader. Surge had an electric fence. Because he trained electric pokemon. See? Now, what are you? A ninja-type trainer?"

"P-poison."

"Right. Well, shouldn't you have—I dunno—like, poisonous pits of acid around here?"

"That's… dangerous, though," Koga said.

"Well, so are trees and electric fences!"

"Trees aren't dangerous."

"They are if you fall out of them," Arden said. "Or if one falls on you."

Koga blinked. "Did you come to challenge me, or give me a lecture?"

"I dunno. Both, I guess," Arden said.

"Well, let's just battle, then, shall we?" said Koga. He held up a pokeball. "Weezing, go!"

"Quenelle!"

Koga's pokemon appeared, oozing gas from its pores. Quenelle leapt forth, cracking his tails and tossing his head. Arden smiled and gave his command, "Quen, thunderbolt!"

Quenelle lowered his head as if preparing for the attack, and then did nothing.

"Quen? Thunderbolt!"

The tauros shook his head. "Aur-aur-auros!"

"What's wrong with you?" said Arden. "Use thunderbolt!"

Koga chuckled. "It looks like your pokemon is too strong for you," he said. "It doesn't respect you and it won't take your orders."

"What? Nonsense!" said Arden. "I grew up with Quenelle! He knows me and he likes me—there's no reason he shouldn't take my orders!"

"Just because he knows you, or even likes you, doesn't mean he respects you as a trainer," Koga said soberly.

"Is that right, Quen?" asked Arden. "You don't respect me?"

Quenelle lowered his head guiltily. Clenching his teeth, Arden said angrily, "Fine. Come back. I'll fight with another pokemon, then."

"Tauros…"

"I said return, Quenelle," said Arden. The tauros turned and slowly walked behind Arden. "Instead I'll use… Gimpy!"

He held up the pokeball, releasing the pokemon into battle. "Wartortle!"

"Weezing, use smog!" said Koga.

* * *

Elsewhere in Fuchsia, Dixie sat down with at the bare wooden table in his childhood home as his mother served him some tea. He took the cup from her and stared into it as she sat down across from him. Dixie's cubone sat in his lap, looking from its trainer to the woman and back again as they sat in silence.

After a long silence, Dixie's mother said, "So, you work for… Team Rocket, now?"

Dixie nodded.

"We've been so worried about you," she said. "I and your father, both."

"I'm not here to come home," said Dixie.

Another silence passed between them. "S-surely you can't be happy being a _criminal?_" asked his mother.

Dixie stood up, cradling his cubone in his arms. "If you're going to start that, I'm going," he said.

"Don't leave," said his mother quickly. "Please sit down. I've missed you. Your father missed you… Don't you miss us, too?"

"No," said Dixie. "I can't say that I do."

His mother was beginning to cry. He turned his face away. "What did I do to make you hate me?" she whispered.

"I don't hate you," said Dixie. "I've just decided that I want to be someone who isn't pushed around and beaten."

"But, Dixie—becoming a thug for Team Rocket?"

Dixie started toward the door. "In this uniform, no one ever tries to bully me. No one comes home drunk and smacks me around," he said. "Goodbye, mother."

"Don't… leave again," she implored him, but he just walked out the door without reply.

_**A/N:**__ Hi, all. I just wanted to tell you all that the Death Note projected I mentioned in my last note is finished and linked to my profile. I finally broke down and downloaded a different video editor, and redid the entire video. So, anyway, if you like Death Note, I'd love you forever for checking it out. Of course, I already love you forever for reading this story. Dontcha all know you're my favorite people in the whole world? Anyway, I guess that's the end of this irrelevant note._


	40. Fuchsia City III

With a frustrated sigh, Arden took a seat in the Fuchsia City Pokemon Center. He looked sideways at Quenelle, standing beside him, and pouted. "I can't believe you wouldn't back me up back there," he said.

Quenelle hung his head. "Taur-auros."

Arden kicked his feet out and rubbed the back of his head. "Don't even try to act sorry. I would've beaten that gym leader easy if you'd have just attacked," he said. "I can't believe you don't respect me. I mean, I thought we were friend, Quen!"

"Auros," said Quenelle, licking Arden's cheek. The boy smacked him sharply on the nose.

"Stop that," he said. "I'm angry with you. I mean, I know I don't have as many badges as Gaius or Mom, but I don't see why that matters! I mean, you just stood back and watched Koga completely flatten my whole team!"

Quenelle hung his head again. "Auros."

The nurse leaned over the counter. "Excuse me! Your pokemon are now fighting fit!"

"Why do they all use that phrase?" mumbled Arden, getting to his feet. He collected his pokeballs and attached them to his belt.

"We hope to see you soon," said the nurse.

Shaking his head, Arden started out the doors, with Quenelle trotting along beside him. He emerged into the open air and sighed deeply. Not far away was the gym, and, for a while, Arden stared at it. "I'm just going to lose again, aren't I?" he muttered to himself. "I'm just going to keep loosing. Just like when I fought Surge."

He sighed and turned away. "Why even bother? Come on, Quen. Let's go somewhere else," he said, walking away from the gym. "I hate it here."

Quenelle looked at the gym sadly before turning and following Arden. He passed through the sleepy streets of Fuchsia, past a house which was more like a shack where a woman was crying and hanging laundry outside to dry, next to a meager garden. Arden came up on the eastern gatehouse out of the city, only to find Dixie leaning against the wall there, lighting up a cigarette with his cubone at his heel.

"Dixie," said Arden, waving at him. The Rocket grunt looked up as the younger boy approached.

"Oh, hey, Arden. Didn't see you coming along there," he said.

"I didn't know you smoked," Arden said.

"I didn't know _you_ had a tauros," said Dixie.

"It's my brother's," Arden said. "I'm holding onto him for a couple days."

Dixie took a long drag on his cigarette. "You don't say… Now, why's that?"

"Well, I traded my pikachu to my brother temporarily, so he could train it," said Arden.

"Probably not the smartest move," said Dixie.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, part of being a trainer is training pokemon yourself," Dixie told him, twitching his cigarette between two fingers. "It builds a strong connection between human and pokemon…"

"You saw how violent Cruelty is," Arden said, looking down and rubbing the back of his head. "I just… I can't handle him. He's getting worse and worse and I'm… I'm not a good enough trainer to break him. He will never listen to me. Not unless a better trainer than me breaks him down first. I'm just… not up to scratch there."

"Arden… You shouldn't say things like that," said Dixie. "That's negative thinking. I mean, you're bound to fail if you just keep telling yourself you're not good enough."

"I'm _not _good enough, though," Arden said. "Did you know I lost to Lt. Surge twice?"

"Well, twice isn't so bad," said Dixie, throwing one arm over Arden's shoulders, and pulling him into a sort of hug. Arden coughed a little and moved his face away from Dixie's cigarette. "You should've kept trying. I mean, third time's a charm, right?"

"I guess," mumbled Arden, his face heating up as Dixie held him against his chest.

"Did you use that move I gave you?"

Arden nodded. "Yeah, but Surge's raichu was too fast… uh, can you let go of me? This is starting to feel _really_ awkward."

"Ah, right. Sorry," said Dixie, moving his arm from Arden's shoulders. He nodded toward Quenelle. "So this is your brother's pokemon, huh? Well, he's certainly… big. Are you heading back to Vermillion to challenge Surge again with this tauros?"

"Nah," said Arden. "Quen won't listen to me. I don't have enough badges."

"That's rough," said Dixie brining his cigarette up to his lips. "You gonna head back up there, anyway?"

"I don't think so," said Arden rubbing the back of his neck.

"I think you should."

Arden shook his head. "I'll just be beaten again. It's not worth the humiliation."

"Don't say things like that," Dixie told him, leaning forward. He flicked his cigarette down and ground it out with his foot. "I think that you could be a very good trainer if you'd just believe in yourself."

"My pokemon are too weak," Arden said, his eyes fixed on the earth. "No matter how hard I train, I'm going to end up being beaten by Surge's raichu. It's too fast… I just… I can't."

Dixie reached to Arden's belt and pulled one of the pokeballs off of it.

"Hey," said Arden. "What are you doing?"

Pulling another pokeball off of his belt, he handed it to Arden. "Here," he said. "This is Bruno. He's a ground type, and he's a decently high level, so you should be able to beat Surge with him."

Arden looked at Dixie, wide-eyed. "Why would you…?"

"I want him back, though, when you beat Surge," Dixie said, fixing the pokeball he'd taken from Arden to his belt. "I'll hold onto this pokemon until then."

Arden blinked, looking down at the pokeball Dixie had handed him to the one he had taken. "But… why?"

"Because I hate to see you so down," Dixie said, leaning forward. He kissed the top of Arden's head softly. Aden blushed deeply.

"Your breath smells like tobacco smoke…"

Dixie straightened up, smiling. "Come on, Dexter," he said to his cubone. "We have higher-ups to report to. Be seein' ya, Arden."

"Bye," said Arden quietly. He watched the Rocket Grunt go silently, before turning to Quenelle. "Did that seem weird to you? …it seemed weird to me."

"Auros-aur!" said Quenelle, tossing his head.


	41. Route 15

To the east, beyond Fuchsia city, was a lush green landscape which ran along the coast. A small ridge rose along the bright meadow, where beautiful young women and campers were hunting for pokemon in the grass.

"Aur-aur-aur!" said Quenelle, stomping his hooves.

"You like it out here, Quen?" Arden asked. The tauros nodded emphatically.

A young girl approached him. "Excuse me," she said. "Would you like to battle?"

"Ah, sure," Arden said. "I mean, I guess."

The girl clapped her hands together. "Oh, thank you!" she exclaimed. She reached into her purse and pulled out a pokeball. "Oddish! Go!"

Arden pulled a pokeball off his belt. "Go, Thief!"

His pokeball opened, releasing a sandshrew. "Shrew!"

"Gah—Bruno?" said Arden. "So that's the pokemon Dixie took? Thief? Ah, damnit. Why couldn't he have taken Fang? I mean, Fang's twice as useless!"

Further along the path, Dixie and Dexter rested on a long wharf, overlooking the open ocean. He held up the pokeball he'd taken from Arden, releasing the persian from within.

"Peeersian," said Thief, stretching his body.

"Hello, Thief," said Dixie, extending a hand to the pokemon.

"Sian?"

"We haven't met before," Dixie said. "However, it was relayed to me that you and a pokemon of mine spoke. Bruno. Do you remember him?"

Thief flattened his ears for a moment. "…per!" he said at last. "Persian."

"Ah, so you do, then?" said Dixie. "He told me you swipe pokeballs. Is that right?"

Thief flattened his ears and looked away. "Perrrsian."

"Now, please don't lie to me…"

The pokemon tilted his head and shrugged his shoulder. "Persian."

"Good, good," said Dixie. "I was wondering if you'd show me where you put them?"

"Sian? Persian!" said Thief, seeming to be taken aback. He shook his head. "Per-sian!"

"I know, I know—you were collecting them. Bruno mentioned that," said Dixie. "But, I figure… well, they're just sitting there, somewhere aren't they? I mean, you can't _use_ them."

"Persian," said Thief, unmoveably.

"Please, Thief?" said Dixie, rubbing the pokemon behind the ears. "I mean, think of those poor pokemon, forevermore trapped inside their pokeballs. How would you feel if you were stuck in your ball forever, and never released again?"

The persian frowned as he contemplated the idea of spending the rest of his life trapped in his pokeball. "…sian."

"So," Dixie said. "Will you show me where you have them stashed? I promise they'll be in good hands."

As he considered the proposal, Thief flicked his tail back and forth slowly. Finally, he said, "Persian." And started along the wharf, pausing briefly for Dixie and Dexter to follow.

"Thank you very much, Thief," Dixie said. "You're a prince among pokemon."

Elsewhere, Arden and the girl finished their battle, with Arden victorious. The girl slumped sadly away as Arden congratulated his borrowed pokemon. "You're really strong!" said Arden.

"Sand," said Bruno, climbing up Quenelle's leg and onto his back.

"Tauros?" said Quenelle, glancing at the sandshrew, whom had situated himself on the bigger pokemon's neck, leaning against his head. Bruno clutched a strange rock that Arden hadn't noticed before to his chest.

"What's that?" asked Arden, taking it.

"Sandshrew!" said Bruno, wiggling his arms at Arden, trying to recover the stone.

"A rock?" asked Arden, tossing it back and forth between his hands. "Do you collect stones or something?"

"Shreeeew," said Bruno, shaking his head and reaching again for the stone. Arden pulled it away, out of the little pokemon's reach.

"Why do you want it back so bad?" Arden asked. "Is it valuable? Or sentimental?"

"Shrew sand, sand sand sand," said Bruno, glancing from Arden to Quenelle and back.

"Auros?" said Quenelle to the sandshrew. "Tau-auros?"

"Shrew!"

"Hey—stop that!" said Arden. "I don't like it when you guys all talk to each other. It makes me feel left out… I mean, I don't have a damn clue what you're saying."

"Aur-aur-auros," snorted Quenelle, tossing his head. He leaned his head toward the stone in Arden's hand and made to take it with his mouth, but Arden pulled it away again.

"No—get your own. I'm keeping this thing until I figure out what it does," said Arden, slipping off his back pack and shoving the stone inside it.

"Shrew," sighed Bruno.

"Auros-aur," Quenelle said, rubbing the sandshrew's head with one of his tails.

"We need to get moving," said Arden, starting up the path. Quenelle trotted after him. "After all, Vermillion's a long way off, and I want to get there soon… I guess."

_**A/N:**__ There's a new link on my profile—a picture of Quen and Bruno together. Once again, I love each and every one of you for reading this—and especially those of you who take the extra time to review it. I just want to say that y'all are my favorite people ever._


	42. Vermillion City Gym III

Arden arrived in Vermillion city tired and dirty from the long walk. Still unable to get into Saffron, he'd had to head through the mountains and pass through the dark Rock Tunnel. The fresh breeze from off the ocean revitalized the boy's spirits however. "Okay," he said. "Let's head to the gym. And you're not going to let me down, right Bruno?"

"Sand," said Bruno.

"I'll assume that's a 'no, I will not'," said Arden, marching toward the Vermillion city gym, with Quenelle trotting after him, Bruno positioned on his head. The trio barged through the gym doors.

"Auros?" said Quenelle, looking around.

Arden slumped. "Ah, man," he said. "That stupid fence is back on! I hate that thing!" He looked at the gentleman who was standing next to the electric gate. "Hey, can you let me back there to go see Surge?"

"Oh, I don't think so," the gentleman replied. "Surge said that only those smart enough to disable it on their own are allowed back to challenge him."

"That's discrimination," said Arden. "Besides, I already beat this stupid gate once. Why do I have to do it again?"

The gentleman threw up his hands. "It's the lieutenant's rules," he said. "I'm sorry."

Arden groaned. "Fine," he said, turning to his borrowed pokemon. "Quen, Bruno—help me look in these trash cans for switches, alright?"

"Aur-aur-auros," said Quenelle, nodding. Bruno leapt down from the tauros' back, and the three of them split up to take a look. It wasn't very long before Quenelle was stamping and shouting, "Aur-aur-aur-aur!"

"Found it already?" said Arden, rushing over. His face fell. "Quen, that's a half eaten candy bar."

"Taaauros!" said Quenelle happily, bending down so he could get at it. Arden sighed and shook his head as the pokemon chewed on the candy bar, wrapper and all.

"Sandshrew!" said Bruno, looking in a trash can. He shot one of his stout arms into the air and waved it about. "Shrew!"

"I swear, if this is a false alarm and you just found a lollipop, I'm just going to throw you through the fence," said Arden, going to the sandshrew's side. He glanced down into the can. "Ah! That's it! That's the switch!"

He pressed it and looked around for the second one. Spotting that, as well, he pressed it and the electric gate died with a crackle. "Success!" shouted Arden, pumping one fist in the air. He marched toward the platform where Surge was lounging, Quenelle and Bruno trailing behind him. Surge looked up as he entered.

"Well, howdy," said the gym leader, getting slowly to his feet. "I remember you. I thought for sure you'd come back, just after our match. But then you didn't, and I started wondering."

"I'm going to win this time," said Arden, trying to make himself believe it.

"Is that a fact?" asked Surge. His eyes fell on Bruno. "Weeell, it looks like you brought the right artillery this time 'round. I'm looking forward to it." He held up his pokeball. "Go, Raichu!"

"Bruno, go!" said Arden. As Surge's raichu appeared, Bruno rushed forward to meet it.

"Raaai!" shouted Lieutenant Surge's raichu, arching his back.

"It's a good strategy, there," said Surge. "If you use a ground pokemon, it prevents Raichu from being able to use electric attacks, which are his strongest sort. However, they're not his only sort. Raichu, slam!"

"Dig, Bruno!"

Bruno lunged forward, and the raichu did as well. Before he could dig down, the raichu smack him with his long, whip-like tail, knocking the little sandshrew sideways and sending him skidding across the ground. The hit pokemon dug one of his paws into the ground to stop his skid and—with incredible speed—began pulling at the earth. In moments, he disappeared, into a hole under the ground. Raichu looked around, nervously, his ears flattened, as he waited for the sandshrew to strike. After a moment, Bruno erupted from underneath the ground below the enemy pokemon, striking him hard in the stomach. With a yelp of pain, the raichu staggered back.

"Raichu—mega punch!"

The raichu recovered and threw a sound punch, which caught Bruno straight in the collarbone. "Shrew!" yelped the pokemon as he tumbled back, head over heels.

"Okay, Bruno—slash!"

Rolling back onto his feet, Bruno leapt at Raichu, raking his face with his sharp claws.

"Rai!" objected the raichu, drawing back and holding his face with his stubby arms. "Rai-i-raaaai!"

"Hang in there, buddy!" shouted Surge. "Quick attack!"

The raichu rushed forward, hitting Bruno and knocking him across the floor again.

"Damn it, Bruno—get up!" shouted Arden, tears coming to his eyes. "I'm not going to lose here. Not this time; not again."

Quenelle watched Arden solemnly. He stepped forward, nudging Arden's back. "Tauros."

"Huh?" Arden turned around. "Quen…?"

"Tauros," said Quenelle, nodding his head toward the battlefield. "Taur-auros."

"I don't understand," said Arden.

Quenelle trotted in front of him, and stamped his hooves. "Tauros!"

"Y-you want to fight?" asked Arden breathlessly. "You'll—you'll fight for me?"

"Taaauros!"

Arden began to cry. "R-really? Well, alright! Ah—Bruno, return!" The sandshrew hesitated briefly, and then scampered to Arden's side.

"Heh, switch out, eh? Fine by us," said Surge. "That lets us do our strongest move, eh, Rai?"

"Raaaaichu!"

"Raichu—THUNDER!"

The electric pokemon's cheeks began to crackle and it hunched over, grinning wickedly. "Quen—look out!" shouted Arden.

"Raaaai!"

A thick and powerful bolt of lightning shot forth at Quenelle. He braced himself and took the hit. With not even a yelp, nor any other indication of pain, Quenelle stood his ground. Stunned, Raichu and Surge simultaneously staggered back a few steps. "God damn," mumbled the gym leader. "He barely felt it at all…!"

Quenelle cracked his tails like whips and reared up. "Aur… Aur… AUROS!" With all the force of a cannon, he came down, smashing his hooves into the ground and causing it to fracture. The earth split, shaking the very foundations of the building and sending both trainers staggering sideways. Shards of stones flew up, hitting the raichu's face as he was tossed to-and-fro by the quaking ground.

"E-earthquake," Arden mumbled as the shaking died down.

Surge's raichu fell, eyes closed to the ground. Slowly, the Lightning American held up his pokeball, and returned his pokemon to it. "I am defeated," he said.

Arden's lip quivered. His knees felt weak, and not just from the earthquake. He staggered forward and hugged Quenelle around the neck. "We—we did it! You and me and Bruno! We won!" He let go of the tauros and lifted up Bruno over his head. "We won! Won! Won!"

"Saaand," said Bruno, beginning to glow.

"Eh?!"

Arden dropped Bruno to the ground as, still glowing, he began to change. When the light faded, he had become a sandslash. "Sand."

Lieutenant Surge approached him, his hands balled up into fists at his sides. "I have to tell you, kid, I didn't go into this line of work to lose," he said. "I don't like to be beaten. I don't like to see Raichu beaten, or see him in pain."

He raised one of his hands and opened it, revealing the Thunder Badge. "However, on this occasion, I'm happy," he said. "I'm happy to see you come back, and challenge me again after being defeated. I'm happy to see a young trainer not give up, and I'm happy to see his pokemon willing to pull for him—to take hits for their friendship. This is yours."

Arden took it. "We won!" he cheered again, as Quenelle sloppily licked the side of his face, messing up his hair.


	43. Saffron City

Arden rode along on Quenelle's back with Bruno, feeling positively elated. As Quenelle trotted toward the north path out of town, Arden rubbed his neck and hugged Bruno tightly. "You guys are the greatest!" he kept saying over and over. As they neared the underground path's entrance, Dixie exited from it, a bag full of pokeballs slung over one his shoulders. "Hey, Dixie!"

"Arde—ah!" Dixie's eyes widened as they fell across Bruno. "B-Bruno! What did you—?"

"He evolved after my battle with Surge," said Arden, setting him down on the ground and holding out his pokeball to Dixie.

"Evolved? –What? No, no, no," said Dixie, setting down his bag and knelling next to his pokemon. "What about his everstone?!"

"Everstone?" said Arden, frowning. After a moment, his expression lightened and he dug through his pack. "Ah—you mean this rock?"

"Yes," said Dixie, looking at the stone in Arden's hand. "That would be exactly what I meant."

"I didn't know what it was, so I took it," Arden said.

Dixie's eye twitched slightly. "That's not a very good reason to take something," he said. "It could've been radioactive."

"…is it?"

Dixie paused. "No, it isn't."

"So," said Arden. "What exactly is it?"

"It's an everstone," Dixie replied, pressing one hand over his eyes with a sigh. "It stops pokemon from evolving."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Oh, lots of reasons," said Dixie, standing up. He took Bruno's pokeball from Arden's hand and clipped it to his belt. "Distaste for the next stage of your pokemon's evolution, or perhaps because you like him just the way he is and don't want him to change, or so that your pokemon can learn moves it can't learn in later stages."

"Moves, huh?"

Dixie nodded, and put Thief's pokeball in Arden's still-outstretched hand. "Some pokemon learn really powerful moves in their early stages, which they won't learn if you evolve them," he said. "Nidoran comes to mind."

Arden stared at the everstone. "You don't say… Can I—"

"You can keep it," said Dixie. "I don't need it anymore, I guess."

Arden pointed to the bag Dixie had set down moments before. "What's with all the pokeballs?"

"Ah, nothing, nothing," said Dixie, hoisting the bag up. "I'm just… Making a delivery to my superiors in Saffron, and I thought I'd come down and get Bruno before I went."

"You can actually get _into_ Saffron?"

Dixie nodded. "That right," he said, pointing to the red 'R' across his chest. "This uniform is my badge. Team Rocket's in control of the city."

"In control of the whole city? But, why?"

Dixie paused and put one hand to his mouth. "I don't know the details about those sorts of things, Arden," he said. "I'm just a grunt, after all. I know that I was supposed to help secure rare pokemon, and I did that. Whatever's happening in the city has little to do with me. I'll go receive my direct orders for this stage of the procedures, and then those orders will be as much that our control of Saffron has to do with me."

"So you don't even know what your bosses are trying to do?"

"I have vague ideas," Dixie said shrugging. "Steal pokemon, steal things related to pokemon… Steal whole cities if necessary. I don't question it, and neither should you."

Arden frowned. "Really seems like the sort of thing you should question…"

"Nah," said Dixie. "Are you headed to Saffron yourself? I could get you into the city, you know?"

"Ah—you can?"

Dixie nodded, smiling. "Mm hm."

"That'd be great! I've been trying and trying to get in there!" said Arden, sliding down off Quenelle's back. "The guard just kept saying the road was closed and sending me away!"

"Well, that's dumb," said Dixie. "…there's no road there."

As they started toward the gatehouse, Arden asked, "So, where'd you get all those pokeballs? Are there pokemon in them?"

"Ah, there are pokemon in some of them," Dixie answered. "Most of them, actually, I'm fairly certain."

"Did you catch all those pokemon?"

"No," said Dixie, shaking his head. "I didn't catch them."

Arden paused. "Did you steal them?"

"Me? No, not me," Dixie told him. "But they were stolen."

The reached the gatehouse and entered. The guard there looked up, briefly, but seemed to lose interest in them as soon as soon as he saw Dixie's uniform. Without a word, the guard went back to his previous business of folding a square of paper into a crane. Dixie held open the door into the city. "After you," he said.

Arden walked out into the sunlight, Quenelle trotting along behind him, and Dixie and Bruno following behind him. Saffron felt almost like home to Arden; the buildings were tall and grandiose, and the whole place was filled with warmth. Rocket Grunts hung about in the streets, mulling around at the entrances to buildings, with not a civilian in sight. Arden looked around. "Where's the pokemon gym here?" he asked Dixie.

"Eh, the pokemon gym's on lock-down," Dixie told him.

Arden frowned. "What? But, why?" he asked. "That makes my coming here so pointless!"

"Well, if you want to battle, there's an unofficial gym at the north side of town," Dixie told him. Arden brightened. "Of course, they're unrecognized by the Pokemon League and, so, can't give away badges."

Arden's momentarily bright expression went away and he slumped his shoulders. "Oh, great," he muttered.

"But," Dixie said. "I hear that if you beat their leader they'll give you a rare fighting pokemon in return."

Arden brightened again. "Alright!" he said.

Dixie smiled. "Well, I wish you luck in that," he said. "I've gotta split, but I'll see you later and you can tell me how that all panned out."

Arden nodded and turned away. "Ah—Arden."

"Huh?" said the young trainer stopping and turning toward Dixie. Dixie leaned down and kissed him on the cheek before straightening up again. Blushing, Arden could only stare wide-eyed at the other boy.

"Okay," said Dixie with a smile and a slight wave. "Bye."

Arden watched Dixie and Bruno jog off with their bag of pokeballs, still stunned and blushing. Quenelle tilted his head. "Auros?" After a long while, Arden seem to find his voice.

"Why is he so _weird_ all the time?" he asked no one in particular.


	44. Saffron City II

Arden rubbed his cheek where Dixie had kissed him as he made his way toward Saffron's unofficial pokemon gym. His cheeks were still red with embarrassment. "What a weird guy, that Dixie," said Arden to Quenelle. "What's he up to with things like that, huh?"

"Auros," said Quenelle, tossing his head.

They traversed a boulevard, until at last they came upon two large buildings which stood side by side. Both of the buildings looked, to Arden, like gyms—however, one was slightly smaller and had a more traditional feel to it. The larger gym beside it was stark and plain, its entrance guarded by a grunt for Team Rocket. Arden looked back toward the smaller gym. "I guess this must be the one, then," he said, walking toward it.

The door to the gym was made of a wood frame and paper, which slid open. Arden pushed it out of his way and entered with Quenelle close behind him. Within, the gym was a large room, empty of all furniture. A few scrolls were hung up on the walls, displaying calligraphy. Four men in martial arts outfits were practicing kicks in the center of the room while, at the back of the gym, a fifth man supervised them. Arden closed the door behind Quenelle. "This looks like a literal _gym_," he muttered to the pokemon. Quenelle nodded silently.

Hesitating slightly, Arden took a few steps forward, past the entry way and into the gym proper. "Uh, hi—I was just wondering," Arden began, but was cut short by one of the fighters.

"Who's that who enters our dojo?!" shouted the man.

Arden paused. "Uh, well, my name's Arden—ah, I'm a pokemon trainer and… well, which one of you is the leader here? That's all I—"

"To get to the leader, you must fight!" said the same man, striding toward Arden. "I will fight you first!"

"You're not going to hit me, are you?" asked Arden, stepping behind Quenelle. "I thought this was a pokemon gym—I swear, if it isn't, I'll leave quietly!"

"Hyah!" yelled the fighter, throwing a pokeball. "Primeape, go!"

Arden sighed with relief. "Oh, a pokemon battle," he said. "Well, alright then. Quen, get 'em!"

"Aurrrros!" shouted the pokemon, lurching forward. His hooves clacked against the wooden floor.

"Primeape, seismic toss!"

"Quenelle, use thunderbolt!" said Arden.

"Taur!" shouted Quenelle, cracking his tails like whips. As the primeape came at him, he lowered his head and, eyes aglow, produced a blast of electricity from the jewels on his forehead. The lightning struck the primeape mid-stride, sending it reeling backwards, and tumbling across the ground in a state of unconsciousness. "Aur-aur-aur!"

"Return, primeape!" said the fighter, holding up a pokeball. With a flash, the fainted pokemon was recalled and he lowered it, grabbing up another pokeball from his belt. "Machop, go!"

"Quen, surf!"

"Aur-aur-auros!" shouted Quenelle, pounding his hooves to the floor and producing a massive wave which knocked back the foe's pokemon, fainting it easily.

Arden laughed. "I'm unstoppable!" he shouted, throwing his arms around the tauros' neck. "We can't be beaten!"

"Auros," said Quenelle, licking Arden's forehead sloppily.

The door to the dojo scraped open. "Another challenger?" asked one of the martial artists, pausing in his practice.

"Nope," came Gaius' voice from behind Arden. "Just lookin' for baby brother… Ah, well maybe I'll have a few fights. What we doin' in here? Pokemon fighting, or fist fighting? I'm up for either."

Arden turned around. "Gaius," he said. "You're back… And you're wearing a suit."

Gaius brushed the lapel of his jacket with his thumb. "Yeah," he said. "I headed straight out here after Dad's funeral. It was a nice service… Mom's damn upset with you for not coming. She's really, really pissed."

"She'll get over it," said Arden looking down with a shrug.

"Nah, I wouldn't be so sure about that, baby brother," Gaius said, smirking. "She's outside right now, and she's pissed off."

Arden's eyes widened. "Eh—you have to hide me! She's outside? She'll kill me!"

Gaius laughed. "Nah, I'm just jokin' with you," he said, patting Arden on the back. "She's not outside. But, I'm under her orders to bring you right back to her so she can give you a tongue lashing."

"What?! No way!" said Arden. "I won't go!"

"Well, baby brother, I'm sorry, but you've got to," Gaius said, rubbed Quenelle's nose. "Heya, Quen—how've you been doin'?"

"I won't go," said Arden stubbornly. He crossed his arms resolutely.

"That's too bad," Gaius said. " 'Cause now I gotta make you."

He grabbed Arden's arm tight. "Hey, let go!" said Arden, pounding his fist against Gaius' broad chest. "I said I'm not going home and I'm not going home!"

"Come on, baby brother," said Gaius, smiling. "Do you really want to make this harder on yourself? Man up and come take your lickin' from your mama."

"I said no!" Arden shouted, wrenching his arm away from Gaius. He grabbed a pokeball from his belt and held it up.

Gaius' smile became more of a smirk. "Come on, baby brother," he said. "You really want to go down that road with me?"

Arden glared at him, and shouted, "Go, Fang!"

"Alright, fine," said his older brother. "But you're just making an idiot out of yourself." He reached into his coat pocket and produced a pokeball from within. "Go, Daryle!"

With a flash of light, the pokemon were released between the brothers. Fang appeared, screeching and spreading his wings. Across from him, a great hulking form appeared from Gaius' pokeball. With a ferocious cry, Daryle the typhlosion arched his back and bared his fangs, flames shooting out of his neck eagerly. Arden furrowed his brow, but otherwise gave no outward token of how terrified he was of Daryle.

"Fang, supersonic!"

"Lava Plume, Daryle!"

Fang took a deep breath for his attack, but in no time at all Daryle lurched double and shot an enormous blast of flame from his neck. The fire caught Arden's golbat, causing him to wheel about and faint. "Damn it," growled Arden, returning his pokemon to its ball.

"Your pokemon are leagues below mine, Arden," said Gaius. "You're just putting them through unnecessary pain with all this. Come on, now, just be a man and come with me!"

"No, damn it!" said Arden, slamming his foot in the ground. "I said I'm not going home and I meant it!"

Gaius made a sour face. "Fine. You're pigheaded—as usual—and clearly you don't give a damn about your pokemon in all this," he said. "So screw the battle. I'm not going to hurt innocent pokemon needlessly. Daryle, Quen—help me subdue baby brother."

"Taur!" said Quenelle, advancing on Arden.

"Guh—Quenelle, I thought we were friends!" said Arden, backing away from him.

"Tyyy!" shouted Daryle, blocking Arden from behind. Arden stumbled backwards into the pokemon, and it grabbed him around the neck. Struggle as he might, Arden couldn't get free of its grip. Gaius pulled hard on the sleeves of his jacket, tearing them off. As Daryle held his still-thrashing brother, he began to bind his hands together.

"Really, baby brother," said Gaius, shaking his head. "You act like such a _kid _sometimes…"

"I am a kid!" Arden objected.

"No excuse," said Gaius, knotting the ties. "Alright, Daryle. That's good work."

"Ty!" said Daryle, letting go of Arden. Gaius patted the pokemon on his back.

"You can go ahead and return," said Gaius to his pokemon as he picked Arden up around the waist and lifted him easily onto Quenelle's back, before climbing on himself. With a flash, Daryle withdrew to his pokeball. "Quen, let's go. You know the way."

"Auros!" said Quenelle, charging toward the door. He smashed through it easily and kept running.

"I'm never ever going to forgive you for this," said Arden, pouting.

"Yeah you will," Gaius said. He roughed up his little brother's hair. "So, Quen, how did Arden treat you while I was gone? You guys get into any trouble?"

"Auros aur aur aur!"

"Oh, really?" said Gaius. "That's fascinating…"

"How can you understand that? He's just saying 'auros' again and again!"

"It's the language of the heart, baby brother!"

Dixie exited Silph Co just in time to see Quenelle come racing past. He blinked a couple of times. "Arden?" he mumbled, rubbing his chin as he watched the tauros turn a corner. After only a short hesitation, he followed briskly, not wanting to lose sight of the speeding pokemon, and therefore be unable to follow it.


	45. Goldenrod City

The Kanto country side flew past as Quenelle galloped, full speed, along the paths and through the meadows, leaping over fences and ledges with an athletic ease. "I'm getting motion sick," Arden complained.

"Tauros!"

"Quen says that's your own fault," Gaius said. "I think he's right—he's trying very hard to make this ride as smooth as possible. Least you can be is grateful, baby brother."

"I'll show my gratitude by trying not to vomit on him," mumble Arden woozily as he leaned back against Gaius.

"That's all he asks," said the older brother.

"Aur aur aur!" said Quenelle, leaping down from a ledge. He landed hard on the ground, causing little fissures to spread out from where his hooves impacted it, and kept right on running. "Aur-auros!"

"Well, you don't say," Gaius responded to Quenelle. "That's somethin'…"

"What? What are you talking about?" said Arden.

"Nothing, nothing," said Gaius. "Don't worry about it."

Arden frowned. "I don't like it when you and your pokemon have secret conversations," he mumbled. Gaius roughed up his hair.

"Whatever, baby brother," he said, smiling. "How about you just focus on not vomiting, hm?"

* * *

Far behind them, Dixie followed. He'd lost sight of Quenelle long before, and had been following them by the marks left in the dirt by the charging tauros' hooves. However, as he reached a meadow north of Pallet Town, the trail disappeared. "Good thing I put that tracker on him last time we met up," mumbled Dixie, kneeling down atop a small ledge. He reached into his boot and pulled out a small screen with a collapsible antenna attached to it. Turning it on, he pulled the antenna out and titled the device upwards. "What he must think of me kissing him like that to do it, though…"

The display on his screen lit up with a beep. "Not too far," he muttered, starting off with the device as a guide.

* * *

Quenelle's hooves pounded over the streets of Cherrygrove Town. As they passed, people stopped in the street and waved, and little children raced after them, shouting, "Gaius! Gaius! Show us more of your pokemon!"

Arden blushed with jealousy and looked away. He had a hard time admitting it—even to himself—but it always got to him how Gaius seemed to be beloved every where he went. He'd complained about it once, only to be told by the older boy that his love was the result of his deeds, and that anyone could be loved if they devoted their lives to helping those around them. "When people's lives are made better," Gaius had told him then, "It fills their hearts with love, to the point of over flowing." Arden had never quite understood that, himself, so the whole thing remained a sore point with him.

"I just love the smell of Johto air," Gaius said, taking a deep breath. "Don't get me wrong—Kanto's an alright place and all, but there's just something innately better about Johto. Huh, baby brother?"

Arden shrugged. "I dunno," he said. "The air here kinda smells like iron and oil to me."

"I know," Gaius said. "Isn't it great?"

Arden sighed. "Do you think you could untie me?"

"Are you going to try to run away?"

Arden hesitated. "No."

"Yeah you are," said Gaius. "I'll untie you when we get home."

"Can't you untie me before then?" asked Arden. "I'm going to need my arms free to protect my face."

The tall buildings of Goldenrod City came into view as they turned around a wooded bend, a deep gold against the red sky of late afternoon. Arden could identify the radio tower, with the blinking light at its top, and the department store, towering above the rest of the sky scrapers and apartments. Arden frowned deeply. "Cheer up, baby brother," said Gaius. "Smiling makes everything easier, you know. You'll feel better if you smile!"

"Maybe that works for you," Arden mumbled.

"I hope that pokemon of yours is still training," said Gaius as they came up closer to the city. The street lamps were flaring to life ahead of them as night was settling in. "I told him he'd better keep at it while I went to get you…"

Arden's eyes widened. "What? You just left Cruelty here?!"

"Relax," said Gaius. "I left him with Mom."

"You left him with Mom?! What were you thinking? That pokemon is dangerous!"

"Well, so's Mom," said Gaius. "Ah, speak of the saint! She's outside waiting for us. Hey, Mom!"

Outside of a dinky house at the edge of town, a woman stood with her arms crossed, a rolling pin in her hand. She was a heavy woman, with her hair pulled back tightly. They had barely come within sight of her when she drew back her arm and threw her rolling pin, striking Arden right in the forehead. With a yelp, Arden tumbled down off of Quenelle's back.

Gaius looked down at Arden, and then back at his mother. "Good arm."

_**A/N:** As always, I just want to thank all my readers. You guys are amazing, and I feel loved that anyone has read this far. If you think there's anything I can do to improve this story, please don't hesitate to drop me a line about it. You guys are the greatest._


	46. New Bark Town

"Here," said Gaius as he helped Arden into the house. "I'll get you some ice for that bump, baby brother."

Arden sat down at the table shakily, while his brother went to the fridge. His mother stood in the door way, arms crossed over her chest, glaring daggers at him. "Miss your own father's funeral," she said. "Arden, how could you go and do something like that?"

"I'm sorry," Arden mumbled, rubbing his head.

"Arden Delta Blake, you are going to march right down to that graveyard and you're going to apologize to your father for letting him down!" she said. Arden didn't argue; after all, Valor Blake had always been a strong-willed woman, and she was even more so when it came to her husband. That sort of devotion didn't end with the death of said husband.

"Okay," he mumbled, looking away from her angry face.

Gaius brought him a hunk of ice wrapped in a towel, and he pressed it against his forehead. "Baby brother, your pokemon's out back if you want to go check on him," he said.

"Yeah, alright," said Arden, standing up. He looked back to his mother. "I'm sorry, Mom. I just couldn't come back…"

"Well, it's not me you have to apologize to," Valor said, going to the sink and washing her hands. "All the same… Welcome home, Arden. I'm baking cookies."

"Chocolate chip?" Arden asked.

"You know better than that," said Valor, shaking her head. "Gingerbread cookies."

"Those are good, too," said Arden.

"Good? They're the greatest!" said Gaius. "Mom make 'em best!"

"Gaius, stop sucking up," said Valor. "…but thanks. They are the best, aren't they?"

Arden opened the door to the tiny backyard of their home. Many years ago, his mother had converted it into a training ground for pokemon, so full of obstacles and weights and other devices that it was almost impossible to navigate it unless one was as fleet-footed and well-balanced as a pokemon. A well groomed espeon was dodging about on a series of tall, thin poles—one of Valor's pokemon. "Hey, Miruna," said Arden, waving to the pokemon, who looked up briefly from her training to acknowledge him.

He turned and looked the other direction down the training grounds and saw a raichu, a weird harness binding him somewhat, practicing attacks on a battered dummy. Arden raised his eyebrows. "…who's that? I didn't think Mom had a—ah! Cruelty!"

"Yup," said Gaius. "I thought that all that aggression was a lot for such a little rodent, so I evolved him with a thunderstone. It helped… a little."

"Ah—so Cruelty's a raichu now?" said Arden, scratching his head. "Does that mean he's stronger?"

"Yup. Stronger and faster," said Gaius.

Arden looked at him flatly. "Why did that sound like a good idea to you after I told you he'd killed another pokemon?"

Gaius frowned and leaned back. "Well, it just seemed like a good thought at the time, y'know?" he said. "Guess I didn't think about it too much. I just said, 'hey, baby brother might like it if I make this pokemon stronger while I make it more obedient!' I forgot about the killin' thing for a bit, I guess."

"Raaai cha!" said Cruelty, looking up from his training. "Chaa!"

"He seems to be in a good mood," said Arden. "Cruelty, come here!"

The pokemon narrowed his eyes and sat firmly in place. Gaius put two fingers up to his lips and gave a whistle. "You listen to your trainer's commands!" he shouted.

"Cha!"

Gaius grabbed a whip from a bracket on the wall and cracked it. "Obedience! Loyalty! Trust!" he shouted, cracking it again and again.

The raichu winced at the loud cracking sounds, and flattened his ears. Grudgingly, he made his way over to them, walking between the training props. He reached them and crouched next to Arden, flicking his tail back and forth and looking none too pleased. "Am I going to need a whip to control him now?" asked Arden.

"No, no, no," Gaius reassured him. "Ah… but it might help. Here, take this one. I've got others."

Arden took the whip and cracked it, as he'd been taught as a child by his father. Cruelty jumped slightly and flattened his ears. "Well, alright," said Arden. "Finally, the respect I deserve!"

Cruelty glared at him. "Raaai…"

The door slid open and Valor poked her head out. "Cookies are done! Come get them while they're hot, boys!" Miruna made a slight mewing sound. "And Miruna. But only if you've finished your exercises."

"Esp," said Miruna, leaping down off a pole.

* * *

Dixie wandered along the path which connected Kanto and Johto, Bruno at his side, studying the screen of his tracking device every now and again. Up ahead, he could see a tiny town, just barely in view. "I've never been to Johto," he told his sandslash. "I wonder what it's like here… I know there are Rockets, so I guess if I get into any sort of scrapes I should be alright. Problem is, I'm not sure what the Johto Rockets are doing, or where they're based out of…"

"Sand," said Bruno, as they continued toward the town. He looked sideways at his trainer. "Slash sandslash slash?"

Dixie sighed heavily. "Please don't ask me why," he said. "I've just… got to do this, Bruno. I feel compelled to. I feel—I feel like he needs me. I mean, you trailed him. You saw how hopeless he is at… well, everything."

Bruno nodded knowingly. "Sand."

"That brother of his, though," mumbled Dixie as they approached the town. A young woman in a sweater and skirt, about Arden's age, paused to stare at him before the doors of a building which Dixie recognized as being a Pokemon Laboratory. She stared at him and, somewhat uncomfortably, he stared back at her.

"Sandslash?" mumbled Bruno, looking from the girl to his trainer.

"I've never seen her before in my life," muttered Dixie back.

The girl hesitated before finally approaching Dixie. "Are you part of Team Rocket?" she asked. "You have to be, dressed like that—Right?"

"Y-yes, I'm a Rocket grunt," responded Dixie.

"So you steal pokemon then?"

"Sometimes."

"Are you here stealing pokemon?"

"Ah… No, I'm here looking for someone," Dixie answered.

"Oh," said the girl. "Who're you looking for? Someone in town? I know a few people in town."

"Ah, I don't think he's in this town," muttered Dixie. The girl was quite close to him now, examining his face intently.

"You're handsome. I like your nose—it's really symmetrical," she said, clasping her arms together behind her back. "Have you ever broken it? I'd guess not. I broke mine once."

"Oh," said Dixie. What else could he say to that?

"So, who're you looking for?" she asked. "You're not from here, right? I saw you come in from Kanto."

"Yes, I did—"

"I'm from around here," she said, moving a lock of her dark hair out of her eyes. "I could help you."

"I find that unlikely," said Dixie, clearing his throat and taking a step backward. "Why would you, anyway?"

"As a trade. I help you find who you're looking for, you help me with something I need… Y'know, like that. Mutually beneficial and like that," responded the girl. "So, who are you looking for?"

Dixie sighed. "I'm looking for a boy named Arden," he told her. "But, I doubt—"

"Ah! I know him. Arden Blake?"

"I don't know his last name…"

"Arden," she said. "Blond, right? Hot headed? Not a very good trainer? Yeah, I know him. He's my cousin."

"Your cousin?" said Dixie. "What're the odds."

"I didn't know he was back in Johto," she said, putting one finger to her lips. "Must've gotten too tough for him. Figures. Anyway, I can take you to where he lives if you help me with something."

Dixie sighed again. "Thanks for the offer," he said, holding up his tracking device. "However, I'm perfectly capable of finding him on my own."

"That's neat," said the girl. "Did you make it? May I see it?"

"Ah, sure," said Dixie, holding it out to her.

She took it and turned it over. "Neat," she said. With a cold look, she dropped it on the ground and stomped on it several times in quick succession, breaking the device. Dixie's jaw dropped.

"My tracker!" he said. He grabbed her roughly by the front of the shirt. "Hey, now—what's the big idea? You're going to have to answer for that!"

"Sand!" shouted Bruno, holding up his claws.

The girl looked at him fiercely. "It's not like you can't find him. You'll just have to help me with something first," she said.

"You little brat," said Dixie through his teeth.

The girl's hand went to her belt. "If we have to battle over this, then fine," she said. "But I'm not backing down, and I will win. Now, you can either get your pokemon and yourself seriously injured fighting me—and they will be, I guarantee that—or you can just help me do something, and we can go peacefully along our way."

He glared at the girl, but couldn't help but feel a sort of respect for her boldness. He couldn't tell if she was serious about her pokemon being that strong, or bluffing. With a sigh, he decided to err on the side of caution and believe the first was true. "Rocket Grunt Dixie DuPont, at your service," he said, letting go of her.

"Felicia Blake. Pleasure to meet you," said the girl, curtseying.

"So, what is it you need from me, Ms Blake?" asked Dixie crossing his arms.

"I need you to help me steal a pokemon from Elm's lab," she said, point toward the building.

"If your pokemon are strong, why don't you steal it yourself?"

"Well, here's the thing about that," she said. "I'm known in this town. I have friends here. I've spoken to Professor Elm on several occasions. If _I _steal it, I'm sure to be caught. However, if a _Rocket _steals the pokemon, no one will think anything of it. That's what Team Rocket does."

"Alright," said Dixie. "So, what pokemon do you need out of there?"

"Totodile," Felicia told him. "I came here asking for it several times, but Elm wouldn't let me have it. I'm sick of it."

Dixie bit his lip. "Alright," he said slowly. He didn't know what a totodile looked like, but he was sure he could guess. "Bruno, come."

"I'll be waiting just outside of town for you," said Felicia, smiling. "Hurry about it, okay?"

Dixie glanced at her sideways before continuing to the laboratory. He paused outside the doors. "Ready, Bruno?"

"Slash!" said Bruno, wagging his tail.

"Alright then," said Dixie. He drew up one foot and, with a powerful kick, knocked the door open with such force that the door frame splintered, sending wooden shards hurdling through the air. A very surprised scientist spun around in his chair.

"Wh-who are you?" said the professor, almost falling out of his chair to see the Rocket grunt and his sandslash advancing on him. "Don't come any closer!"

"We're here for your totodile!" said Dixie in his gruffest voice. "Give it up or I'm gonna sick Sandslash on you."

"St-st-stay back!" stammered the professor, grabbing a pokeball from a machine next to him. "Go, cyndaquil!"

The little pokemon appeared, ready to defend the scientist. Dixie's eyes, however, were focused on two pokeballs which were left in the machine. He was sure one of them must be totodile, though he had no good way of knowing which was which. He'd have to take both.

He dashed toward them. "Sandslash, slash!" he commanded, as he grabbed the pokeballs from the machine. The professor threw a sloppy punch at him, which he dodged. Dixie threw up his knee, hitting the scientist in the stomach and causing him to double over in pain. At the same time, Bruno raked his claws across the cyndaquil causing it to faint. The Rocket Grunt and his pokemon ran, full speed, out of the building, pokeballs pressed against Dixie's chest. He ran out of the sleepy little town, into the neighboring rural path, until he couldn't see the town anymore.

Felicia came up to him when he stopped to hide in a small alcove. "Did you get it?" she asked eagerly.

"I think so," said Dixie, holding the pokeballs up. Felicia frowned.

"Two?"

"I didn't have time to see what was inside, so I just grabbed," Dixie told her.

"Whatever—just give them to me," said the girl, snatching the pokeballs from his hands. She held one out, releasing a little pokemon with a leaf coming from it's head. "Chikorita? No good. You can keep that one."

She thrust the chikorita's pokeball into Dixie's hands. "Thanks, I guess," said Dixie. He looked to the chikorita, who was watching him eagerly. "I think I'll name you… Zahur."

Felicia held out the other pokeball. With a flash of light, a blue, reptilian pokemon appeared. Felicia squealed with delight and grabbed up the totodile. "Finally!" she said, spinning around with it. "A totodile! Finally!" She held it out at arms length. "From now on, you're called Ajax. Alright?"

"Dile!" exclaimed the pokemon.

"That's all well and good," said Dixie, holding up his chikorita's pokeball, and recalling it. "Now, about our deal…?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," said Felicia. "I'll bring you to Arden's place. Follow me, Mr Rocket Grunt. Eh, what do you want with him, anyhow?"

"I've fallen madly and insatiably in love with him," said Dixie flatly as Felicia pouted to recieve such an answer. "Questions aren't involved in this deal, thank you very much."

_**A/N:** This is my longest chapter yet, made extra-long at the request of Godrick, who said I should make my chapters longer. As always, thank you all for reading, and please do tell me if there's some way I can improve your reading experience! Much love to all of you._


	47. Valor's Flashback

Arden knelt before his father's gravestone. _Taylor Delta Blake, _it read, '_Husband, Father, Pokemon Ranger.'_ Engraved at the top of the stone was the image of a scyther—the first pokemon of Taylor Blake. Wreathes and bouquets of flowers were piled at the memorial's foot, and Arden laid his bunch of roses there with the rest of them. "I'm sorry, Dad," he said quietly. His lip quivered and he broke down in sobs. "I'm s-sorry, Dad!"

Valor and Gaius looked on in silence, the former, herself, crying quietly. Gaius put his arm around his mother's shoulders and pulled her into a hug. She glanced over her older son's arm, at the tombstone of her late husband. Eyes misty, she couldn't help but think about when they'd first met.

Thinking back on that day made her feel like there was an eternity between Valor the mother and Valor the young trainer who wasn't expecting to fall in love. In fact, it had only been twenty years—twenty too-short years. She was only seventeen then—the same age Gaius was now—but she had been at training her pokemon for years. On this particular day, she'd been sitting on the beach at Olivine City trying to get her courage together to challenge her first gym. She rolled one of her pokeballs in her hand, pausing every now and again to look up at the ocean with a sigh.

"Gotta be brave, Valor," she whispered to herself. Beside her, her eevee, Miruna, napped lightly. "I'm good enough for this. I've trained enough for this…"

She sighed and lay back in the sand. "Miruna," she said, and the pokemon perked up her ears and looked up. "If I evolved you and Borka, would I win gym battles easily? Do you think I could win, anyway, without evolving you?"

"Vui," said Miruna, laying her head on her trainer's leg.

Valor sat up and rubbed the pokemon behind the ears. "I like you and Borka just the way you guys are," she said. "Strong or weak, I think you're both great. I'm afraid that if you evolve, maybe you'll change on the inside, too…"

"Eevee," Miruna said, closing her eyes. "Vui. Vui."

Valor picked up the eevee and held her to her chest. "You're a good friend, Miruna," she said softly. She stood. "We should train some more before we go to the gym. What do you say?"

"Vui!" said Miruna. "Eeevee!"

"Let's try finding some trainers on the ocean," said Valor as Miruna climbed up to her shoulder and curled herself around the trainer's neck. "They're always good for a battle, huh?"

"Vui!"

Valor reached into the front of her dress and pulled out a pokeball. "Go, Quenelle!" she shouted, holding it out.

With a flash, the young tauros appeared, cracking his tails like whips. "Aur-aur-auros!"

Moving very gracefully for a girl her size, Valor mounted Quenelle, sitting side-saddle on him. "We need to surf, Quen," she told him, rubbing his neck. "Let's go find some trainers, okay?"

"Auros!" said Quenelle, trotting toward the water.

"Wait! Miss, don't go in the water!" shouted someone behind her.

Quenelle paused and Valor looked back over her shoulder to see a young man, about her own age, running toward her, with a scyther fast behind him. She could tell, immediately, by his dress that he was a Pokemon Ranger. He was a tall man—blonde with broad shoulders. "Yes?" said Valor, raising one eyebrow.

"I'm sorry," he said. "But you can't go into the water. I just got a report about a swarm of tentacruel headed this way. No one's allowed into the water, miss."

Valor frowned. "That's just silly," she said. "I have pokemon. They're not push-overs. I'll be fine. Quenelle—"

The Ranger grabbed her by the wrist. "Please—listen to me," he said. "Tentacruel are very vicious, and there's a swarm coming this way. Don't go into the water."

She pulled her arm away. "I've fought tentacruel before," she said coldly. "I can handle a few more than usual."

"Please listen to reason," the young ranger implored her.

"Nope," said Valor, urging Quenelle on, into the water. "Hyah!"

The ranger sighed as Valor rode out into the ocean on her tauros' back. "That girl," he mumbled to his scyther. "Now we have to go out into the water and get her to come back to land before she hurts herself. What a pain."

"Syther!" agreed his pokemon.

The ranger pulled a greatball off his belt. "Ah, well. Nothing to it but to do it, right, Rip?"

"Scyther!" said the pokemon, nodding.

He threw out his greatball. "Go, Sting!"

With a flash, a mantine appeared in the water. "Maaantine!" said the pokemon, splashing about. Pokemon Ranger Taylor Blake leapt onto its back, followed by his scyther.

"Take us out, Sting," he said. "Get us to that tauros."

"Tine!" exclaimed the mantine, taking off. He raced through the water swiftly, gracefully skimming over the waves, and becoming airborne every now and again, just for a little while, as he raced off the crests of waves. Taylor and Rip crouched on his back, their faces turned toward the charging tauros ahead of them.

"Vui," said Miruna, as she caught sight of the pursuing ranger. Valor twisted her head around to look.

"Is he following us?" she said. "What a pain! I told him I could handle a few tentacruel!"

"Vui," said Miruna, standing up on her trainers shoulder. Valor shifted atop her steed so that she was facing backwards.

"Alright, Miruna!" said Valor. "Use swift—but try not to hurt him!"

"Eeevee!" said Miruna, drawing back. She released a stream of shining stars which rocketed at Taylor. Sting dodged out of the way, allowing the attack to pass harmlessly by.

"There we go," said Valor. She patted the eevee's head. "Now—"

She was cut short as Quenelle jerked to one side beneath her. The tauros thrashed against something in the water, which was pulling him down. "Auros!"

Valor leaned over to get a look at Quenelle's feet and saw a tentacle wrapped around it, trying to drag him under the water. "Fight it, Quen!" she exclaimed. Her eyes widened as she realized that the water was positively full of tentacruel and tentacool, bobbing about just beneath the surface, their eyes shining malevolently. "Quenelle—thunderbo—"

"Eevee!" exclaimed Miruna, nipping her ear. Valor winced, but knew immediately why she had done it; the pokemon ranger's mantine was in the water, too, and if Quenelle attacked electrically, it would end up hurting an innocent pokemon and, perhaps, also his rider.

"Change of plans, Quen," she said. "Stomp!"

The tauros reared up to attack, but another tentacle caught his leg and jerked on it. Valor dug her fingers into his fur and hung on tightly, but Miruna wasn't as lucky. The little eevee tumbled off her trainer's shoulder and plummeted towards the vicious sea of jellyfish pokemon below.

"Rip, the eevee!" shouted Taylor.

"Scy!" exclaimed the scyther, darting off the mantine's back. With awe-ing speed, Rip shot toward Miruna, catching her and carrying her to Taylor.

"Good work," said Taylor, rubbing the scyther's head. "But now we have to save the other two…" He frowned. "Alright—Sting, whirlpool! Rip, use fury attack!"

"Tiine!" said the water pokemon. A whirlpool began to form in the ocean, sucking the tentacruel and tentacool into its center. The scyther leapt into the air, and began slashing at the tentacruel nearest the surface with his sharp blades.

Quenelle was still struggling against one of the tentacruel, as it clung tighter and tighter to him. He reared and bucked, unseating his rider. Valor screamed and caught hold of the tauros' neck before she could fall into the sea below. Clinging tight as the pokemon continued to thrash about, she buried her face in the mane of his neck. "Quen, you have to calm down," she said. "I'm not going to let it drown you, but you have to _be calm._"

It was no use. Quenelle was working him up into a frenzy, as the jellyfish pokemon tried to pull him down. He cracked his tails and thrashed about as his trainer clung to him as tightly as she could. Taylor watched apprehensively, before turning to his scyther. "Rip!" he shouted. "Free the tauros first!"

"Scyther!" shouted Rip, turning and flying toward Quenelle. He made to slash at the tentacle gripping the other pokemon but Quenelle, worked up into a panic and fearful of an attack, threw out one of his free hooves, hitting Rip soundly in the head and knocking him back. Valor's hands were slipping. With a sharp intake of breath, she lost her grip completely, and plummeted into the water. Dazed, Rip could do nothing to help her as tentacool and tentacruel swarmed around her. On Sting's back, Miruna paced and yelped for her trainer, making to leap in after her.

"Stay here!" Taylor said to the eevee. Without another word, Taylor dove into the icy water.

The tentacruel swarmed around him, and he could feel Sting's whirlpool, pulling on the water. In the dark waters, he could see Valor, thrashing about as the throng of tentacruel tried to drag her down. He pulled a small knife from his pocket and swam toward her. Tentacool came at him, but he punched them in the face, discouraging them from attacking. On the surface, Rip managed to free Quenelle, and the tauros went running away, over the waves.

Taylor reached Valor and grabbed hold of her, slashing at the pokemon which had caught onto her with his knife. He left a gash on the tentacle of the offending monster and it recoiled, loosening its grip. As he swam upwards, he could feel Valor heavy against him, slipping out of consciousness. With an extra burst of speed, Taylor broke the surface. Sting hurried over to him, and he climbed on top of his pokemon, lugging Valor along behind him. He pressed down hard on her chest, hoping to get any water out, as Miruna looked on with apprehension.

Valor sputtered and opened her eyes slowly. She looked at the soaking wet Pokemon Ranger above her as, beneath them, the mantine made rapidly for Olivine City.

"I… I'm sorry," she said weakly.

"You don't have to apologize," said Taylor as she sat up. "I mean, it was stupid to go out here against a Ranger's advisement, but you don't have to apologize."

Valor frowned. "No, I meant to say 'I'm sorry—I don't think I caught your name.'"

He smiled faintly. "It's Taylor," he said. "And you?"

"Valor," she told him.

"Nice to meet you, Valor," he said, holding out his hand.

She looked at it and, instead of taking it, threw her arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a kiss.

_**A/N:**__ Requested picture of Gaius defending Arden from Dixie is now up. Link's on my profile, like usual._


	48. Ilex Forest

Night was full upon them as Dixie and Felicia walked through the winding maze of trees that was Ilex Forest. The Rocket grunt glanced around nervously. "I don't like this," he said. "Why's it so dark?"

"It's night time," said Felicia.

"We don't have night time in Kanto."

"That's ridiculous," said the girl, glancing back at him. "You _have _to have night time."

"Nope."

Felicia frowned. "You're such a liar," she said.

Dixie sighed and looked around. "I can hardly see a thing here," he said. "Do you think maybe we should go back out and wait 'till day to pass through?"

"That's stupid," she said. She pulled a pokeball from her belt. "I've got a better idea that doesn't involve waiting. Andromeda, go!"

With a flash, an ampharos appeared from the pokeball. "Ampha," she said, looking to her trainer.

"We need light, Andromeda," said Felicia. "Hop to it!"

"Amph," said the pokemon. Her tail lit up with a slight buzzing sound. "Ampharos."

A steady light filled the forest path. Dixie looked around. "Electric lighting," he said. "Very nice."

"Well, _come on_," said Felicia, walking away with Andromeda at her side. "Are you going to just stand around all day, admiring the scenery?"

Dixie raised an eyebrow and followed her. "You really should be nicer to me," he said. "I'm a dangerous criminal, you know."

"No you're not," said Felicia, rolling her eyes. "You're a kid in a costume. And kind of a liar."

"I'm not a kid. _You're_ a kid."

Felicia glanced back at him, exasperated. "Yeah, because that's really the sort of defense an adult would use," she mumbled.

Dixie pressed one hand against his forehead. "How does Arden put up with someone like you?" he asked, half-smiling.

"We don't talk much, actually," she said. "We're cousins, after all, not siblings. He lives in Goldenrod, I live in Olivine—every now and then we'd end up having to go to the same family functions. We don't get along too well, though."

"I wonder why," said Dixie dryly.

She turned around to look at him, scowling. "I don't like that," she said.

"What?"

"Those snide comments of yours. I don't like them. Are you trying to be funny with those? It's not working."

Dixie shrugged and bit his lip. She turned back around and he kept behind her. "You've got quite a temper for a girl your age," he muttered.

"I get told that," she said. "Honestly, though, it's a bunch of bunk. 'For a girl my age'—what does that even mean? A whole lot of nothing."

Dixie smiled pulled a back of cigarettes out of his belt. He brought one to his lips and lit it with a little silver lighter before putting the pack and lighter away. Felicia scrunched up her nose at the smell of the smoke and glanced back at him again. "Gross," she said. "You smoke? That's disgusting. Your teeth're going to get all yellow and your skin's going to shrivel up like a prune by the time you're twenty."

"I'll take my chances with that," Dixie replied.

"No one likes a smoker," Felicia said. "Especially one that's twenty years old and looks like a shriveled old prune. And every one knows that if you smoke, you're forever cursed to be unlucky in love."

"That a fact?" asked Dixie, taking a drag on his cigarette. "And just where did you learn that?"

"Oh, every one knows it," she answered. "I mean, have you ever seen a man who was happy with his love life smoke?"

Dixie frowned. "Well, in movies…"

"Movies don't count," said Felicia.

The Rocket grunt rubbed his chin. "Well, a couple buddies of mine smoke," he said. "But I don't know much about their love lives, so I really can't say… One of them has a girlfriend."

"Bet she makes him miserable."

"I thought that's what girlfriends do, isn't it?"

Beyond the trees, a small shrine came into view.

"What's that?" Dixie asked the girl.

"It's a shrine to the guardian of this forest," Felicia told him. "We should probably stop and pay our respects to it." Andromeda nodded with a soft murmur of agreement.

"Why?" asked Dixie as they neared the shrine. "Is it a wrathful guardian? Will it get angry if we don't?"

"No—not that I know of," she answered with a shrug. "It just seems like the right sort of thing to do. For safe passage through the forest, you should thank the forest's guardian."

Dixie frowned. "Well, alright, I guess," he said. They knelt before the modest shrine. "So, what exactly is the forest's guardian?"

"It's a pokemon," Felicia responded. "At least that's what they say."

The Rocket grunt cocked one eyebrow. "What sort of pokemon?"

"No one knows," she said. "They call it Celebi. No one's ever seen it, really. It might not exist at all. Except in stories, y'know, and myths and the like."

Dixie looked up at the humble monument to the legendary pokemon. "You'd think," he said at last. "If it were real, _someone _would have seen it. Why else would they build it a shrine?"

Felicia shrugged and stood up. "People do funny things like that, sometimes," she said. Andromeda nodded her head in agreement. "Let's keep on going. We're about halfway through the forest, now."

Dixie groaned and stood up. "I hate forests," he muttered.

"That's a stupid thing to say," said Felicia. "How can you hate forests? They're green and shady and natural."

"They're inconvenient," Dixie said.

Felicia frowned. "Lots of things are. It's still not a good reason to hate them," she said. They walked on, along the curving path. There were many points where the path split, but Felicia didn't hesitate at these places and, instead, continued confidently on with her ampharos at her side and Dixie behind her.

"You seem to know this forest well," said Dixie. "You pass through here a lot?"

"When I can," Felicia said. "It's a nice, calming place. I like to train here. Also, it's on the way to and from Azalea town—that little town we passed through? There's a man there who makes apricorns into special pokeballs. I like bringing apricorns to him so that I can have balls to catch specific sorts of pokemon, so I usually make it a point to come down here at least once a week."

"What are apricorns?"

She looked back at him, frowning. "You can't be serious, right?" she asked. "You don't know what apricorns are?"

Dixie lifted his hands and shrugged. "Never heard of them."

"How stupid," she said. "They grow all over. Here—"

She stopped and reached into her bag. For a moment, she rummaged around inside it, pushing TMs and pokeballs out of her way. At length, she held a sort of pink-colored fruit up and presented it to Dixie. He took it. "It's hard," he said, turning it over in his hands.

"Of course it is," said the girl, taking it back. "I just told you they make these into pokeballs. How could they do that if they were soft? Do you think a squishy pokeball would work very well?"

She turned and started walking. Dixie followed her, slumping his shoulders sheepishly. "They might," he muttered. "So, those are what pokeballs are made of, then?"

"Not all of them," said Felicia. "Not the ones you've got on your belt. Yours are the sort that are mass-produced real cheap. That's why it's so easy for pokemon to break out of them. They make them dozens at a time in big factories."

"Where?"

"I don't know," said Felicia, scowling. "What do I look like to you, your guide to the world of pokeballs? They probably make them further inland, or something. I don't know."

"You get easily flustered," said Dixie, smirking. "That's a charming—dare I say, _adorable_—trait of yours."

"I don't get easily flustered," Felicia said, blushing slightly. "You're just frustratingly stupid."

Dixie grinned broadly. "Oh, Ms. Blake, you _do _flatter me," he said. "But I'm afraid your sweet talk won't work on me."

Felicia put her hand on her ampharos' shoulder. "He's a mad man, Anne," she said. "And when he snaps and goes violent, I'll need you to protect me.

"Ampha," said Andromeda, nodding her head. "Pharos ampha."

Dixie chuckled. "It wouldn't do you any good," he said. "What sort of name is Andromeda, anyway? Or Ajax, for that matter? They're a little… _grand, _don't you think?"

"That's how I do things," said Felicia. "I'm the greatest, and so are my pokemon, and so are they're names. Because people will see those names or hear those names and they're gonna immediately know who they're dealing with."

"Ampha!" said Andromeda, swinging her tail.

"You've got a lot of spirit about that," noted Dixie.

"You know it!" shouted Felicia, pumping one fist into the air. "Hoo-rah!" Beside her, the ampharos mimicked the movement.

"Pha-ros!"

Dixie laughed, and threw his arm around Felicia's shoulders. "You know what, kid? I like you. I like that attitude of yours."

"Pha-ros!" shouted Andromeda, pumping out her fist and punching Dixie right in the side of the face. He fell to the ground, out cold.

"Hoo-rah!" said Felicia. "One-hit KO!"

"Pha-ros!"

A silence settled over them.

"Of course," said Felicia. " Now you have to carry him." Andromeda looked at her trainer, deflated. "Hey, I'm not the one who punched him in the face. That was all you."

_**A/N:** Hey, all. Just wanted to tell you, there are a couple new pictures up. Also, I was wondering what everyone's favourite first and second generation pokemon are? I tend to fail at adding variety to teams, since I personally only use a few pokemon and don't think much about the others, so I was hoping y'all might inspire me to think outside my narrow little party-roster box._

_Anyway, thanks, once again, for reading. Love, rainbows, and prancing ponies to all my readers. You guys are made of epic win._


	49. National Park

"I love the bug catching contest," said Gaius as he, Arden, and Valor entered the National Park, followed by three of their pokemon—Quenelle, Gimpy, and Borka.

"So did your father," Valor said, smiling. "This is where he caught Rip, you know."

"Where is Rip?" asked Arden, as they headed toward the park's center. There a giant fountain stood, surrounded by tall, lush grass.

"He's… Well, I'm not sure where, to be honest," said Valor, walking out into the grass. Her sons and their pokemon followed her. "You see, your father died trying to help get a stampede of donphan under control. Rip was with him, trying to stop the stampede and… well, after your father died, it tore Rip up. He just left…"

The grass rustled and Borka's fur stood up on end. "Umbreon!" he barked.

Valor looked alert. "What is it, Borka?" she asked, holding a park ball at the ready. A paras appeared in the grass and Valor smirked. "Alright, Borka! It'll be a pretty good catch!"

"Umbreon!" shouted Borka, arching his back.

"Faint attack, Borka!"

"Bre!" said the umbreon. Fast as a blink, he disappeared and reappeared next to the paras, swiping at it with one paw. "Breon!"

"Paras!" yelped the wild pokemon, falling back. Valor threw the park ball. It took the pokemon into itself with a brilliant flash of light. The ball rolled back and forth on the ground thrice, before falling still. Valor ran over to it and picked it up.

"Good job, Borka!" she exclaimed, kneeling beside the umbreon and hugging him around the neck. "That's my boy!"

"Bre!" said Borka, nuzzling her cheek.

Valor looked up at her sons. "You'd better go find your entries for the competition," she said. "Go on, now—I want to see you both place ahead of me."

Gaius cracked his knuckles. "Alright, Quen—let's go have a look what we can catch, huh?"

"Aur-aur-auros!" said Quenelle, tossing his head. Gaius leapt up onto his back smoothly, and urged him on, to a different area of the park.

"Come on, Gimp," said Arden. "We need to find something, too."

"Tortle!" said the pokemon, limping after Arden as he moved through the grass.

"There should be something around here," said Arden, frowning. "The grass is usually _crawling_ with bug pokemon…"

Gimpy frowned. "Wartortle?" he said, looking around. He reached out one stubby hand and moved some grass out of his way, looking beyond it. "Tort tortle war?"

"Stop that," said Arden, smacking the wartortle's hand. "You're going to scare all the pokemon away!"

"Tortle," said Gimpy, holding his hand and glaring up at Arden. The grass rustled and both boy and pokemon snapped their heads toward the sound.

A scyther appeared in the grass and Arden's eyes widened. "Ah!" he said. "A scyther—! They're really rare! Okay, Gimpy! You ready?"

"War!" said Gimpy.

"Alright—water gun!"

Gimpy readied himself to attack. The scyther looked at him sharply, narrowing its eyes. "Scyyyyther!" it screamed, rushing forward and slashing the wartortle across his face. Gimpy fell backwards, into Arden, knocking the both of them down. The scyther turned and fled as they lay in a heap.

"Damn it!" said Arden, kicking Gimpy off of himself.

"Tort!" said the wartortle, landing on the ground harshly. He rubbed the spot where his trainer had kicked him.

"Damn it, damn it," Arden said. He pounded a fist into the ground and sat up. "You're so slow! We would've had it if you could've attacked first!"

Gimpy scowled and got up, working hard at it. "War tort tort-tortle!"

"Don't argue with me," said Arden, pushing him back down. "It's your fault!"

"Tortle!" said Gimpy, rolling around on his shell, flailing his limbs about.

The grass rustled again, and Arden looked up. "Shush!" he hissed at Gimpy. Slowly, a venonat crept from behind a clump of grass, observing the pair carefully with its enormous eyes. Arden reached to his belt and pulled up a park ball. Mutely, he tossed it at the pokemon. The pokemon was drawn into the pokeball, and, as it rolled around in the grass, Arden pulled Gimpy to his feet. With a brilliant flash of light, the venonat broke free.

Arden gritted his teeth. "Alright, Gimp—water gun!"

"Tortle!" said Gimpy. He shot a stream of water from his mouth, which struck the wild bug pokemon.

"Veno!" cried the wild pokemon, recoiling.

"Alright!" said Arden, throwing another ball. With a flash, the venonat disappeared into it. Arden and Gimpy watched, breathless, as the pokeball rolled about, the pokemon within it trying to free itself. Finally, the venonat ceased its struggle and the pokeball went still. With an ecstatic squeal, Arden retrieved it. "Yeah! Alright!"

"You catch somethin', hun?" asked Valor, coming over to him with Borka trotting along behind her. Arden nodded. "That's good… I wonder where your brother got off to?" She looked around, and Arden followed suit. Indeed, he didn't see Gaius anywhere.

"He must've already gone inside," said Arden. "Guess we should, too…"

Valor nodded, and they headed for the park's eastern exit, where the contest would be judged.

"Do you make your wartortle walk with a leg like that?" Valor asked, frowning. "I thought I taught you better than that! The poor thing… You should carry him, Ardie."

Arden frowned. "But he's really heavy, mom," muttered the boy. Valor looked at him sternly. "Eh—fine, I'll carry him…"

Gimpy grinned at Arden smugly. With a sigh, Arden knelt down, glaring at the wartortle. He hoisted the pokemon onto his back, piggy-back ride style, and stood up, grunting slightly with the effort. "I'm putting you on a diet," he said. "You weigh too much."

"Wartortle," said Gimpy, ears drooping.

They entered the building and a man with a clipboard asked to see their caught pokemon. They handed him their park balls, and went to stand with the other contestants. Valor glanced around. "It looks like your brother isn't here, either," she said. "I wonder what's got him…"

"Okay, the judging will begin now," said the man with the clipboard. Arden raised his hand. "Yes?"

"Hold on—there's another contestant that hasn't showed up, yet," he said.

The man with the clipboard frowned. "Well, I'm not sure there's anything we can d—"

With a clatter, the door opened and Gaius rode in, still mounted on Quenelle. He handed a park ball to the man. "Sorry—didn't realize everyone else was done," he said with a smile, urging his steed over to stand beside his mother and little brother.

"What'd you catch?" Arden asked, looking up at him.

"Eh, nothing special," said Gaius, shrugging. "You?"

"I caught a venonat," Arden said, puffing out his chest. Gimpy smacked him gently in the back of the head. "Ehk—Gimpy helped."

Gaius smiled. "That's good," he said, rubbing Arden's head. "I'm proud of you, baby brother."

"Okay," said the man. "The winner has been decided. Third place goes to Arden's venonat."

Arden grinned and Gaius patted him on the back. "Good job, Ardie," said Valor, hugging him.

"Second place goes to Valor's paras."

"Oh!" said Valor, clapping her hands together.

"Bre!" barked Borka beside her.

"Great job, mom," said Gaius.

"And the winner of today's bug catching contest," said the man with the clipboard. "Is Gaius' pinsir."

Arden's eyes widened. "You caught a pinsir?" he asked, looking up at his brother.

"Yeah," said Gaius with a shrug. "It put up quite a fight, too. I would've caught a higher level one, but Quen accidentally fainted it."

"Aur-auros."

"The prizes will now be handed out," said the man. As the other contestants milled about, or left, the man came up to Arden and handed him a gold berry, before going over to his mom.

"What kind of prize is a berry, anyway?" said Arden, frowning. "Is it too much to ask for a prize that doesn't grow on trees all around here?"

"Tortle," said Gimpy, leaning over his shoulder and eating the berry.

Arden scowled. "That wasn't on your diet," he said.

"Waaartortle."

_**A/N:**__ Hey—just wanted to tell y'all, there are several new pictures up. This time they're profiles for Arden, Dixie, Felicia and Gaius. So if you're interested in knowing what their birthdates are, or what level each pokemon in their teams are, among some other facts, you can go check those out._


	50. Goldenrod City II

Valor and her sons hadn't been home very long when there was a knock at the door. She got up to answer it and was very surprised to find Felicia there, a Rocket grunt behind her. Valor's eyes widened and she immediately reached into her apron, snatching up a pokeball. Felicia grabbed her hand. "No, no—it's okay, Auntie Valor," she said quickly. "He's a friend of Arden's."

Valor blinked and turned around. "Arden Delta Blake!" she said. "Have you been making friends with Team Rocket members?"

Arden rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Just the one," he mumbled.

"Arden," said Valor sternly, placing her hands on her hips. "Team Rocket is a criminal gang! How could you make friends with a _gang member?"_

"Hey, now—Gaius is part of a gang, too!" said Arden. "He heads it, even!"

"Hey, hey, hey," said Gaius, who had—until that point—been munching on a cookie and watching the proceedings with interest. "Don't drag me into this, baby brother."

"Gaius' gang don't steal pokemon," Valor said, turning to glare at Dixie. "Felicia, get in here. Get away from that criminal."

"Yes, Auntie Valor," said Felicia, edging past the woman, into the house. "Oooh, you made cookies?"

Dixie frowned as Valor slammed the door in his face. Dixie sighed and slumped his shoulders. "She's just as bad as the brother," he muttered, crossing his arms. He sighed again and moved around the side of the house, where there was a small alley, and leaned against the wall there. "Why did I even come here…? Ah, there's nothing for it, now." He kicked a small pebble across the ground. "I might as well stick around."

Within the house, Felicia sat down at the table with Arden and Gaius, while Valor fetched her a couple cookies and a glass of milk. "What's Dixie doing in Johto?" asked Arden.

Felicia shrugged, kicking her feet back and forth beneath the table. "Dunno. All he said was he was looking for you," she said. Valor set the cookies and milk in front of her. "Thank you, Auntie Valor."

"Oh, it's no problem," said Valor, sitting down next to Felicia. "We're always happy to have you around, Felicia. So, what brings you around?"

"I got a new pokemon," Felicia said brightly. "I wanted to show you and Gaius. …and Arden, I guess."

Gaius leaned across the table. "That so? Whatcha got?"

Felicia held up a pokeball. "Go, Ajax!" she said, prompting the totodile to appear.

Valor clapped her hands together gleefully and leaned toward the pokemon. "Oh—it's so adorable!" she said, rubbing the totodile's snout. "Where'd you get it?"

"That Rocket grunt, Dixie, gave him to me in exchange for guiding him to Goldenrod," said Felicia. "It was a nice gesture. He doesn't seem like such a bad guy."

Valor frowned. "Well, do you know where _he _got it?"

"I… I didn't ask," said Felicia. "Does it really matter so much?"

"Mom's right," said Gaius. "Team Rocket's bad news as a whole, and as individuals. That pokemon's probably stolen. You should go find that grunt and tell him to take it back to whoever he took it from."

"Dile!" interjected Ajax, wrapping his arms around Felicia's leg. Felicia lifted the little pokemon up onto her lap and hugged him tightly.

"But I love Ajax," she said. "We're friends! He wants to stay with me—right Ajax?"

"Toooootodile!" said Ajax, waving his arms around.

Gaius leaned back in his chair. "Well, he does look happy…"

"Of course he does," Arden said. "He can't do anything except smile."

"Oh, shush, Arden," said Felicia. "You're just jealous because I get along with my pokemon and they love me. I see your poor wartortle over there. He doesn't look like he likes you very much at all."

Arden crossed his arms. "Well, that's because he doesn't," said Arden. "But that's all his fault and not mine."

"War!" said Gimpy, scowling. Arden flicked the pokemon between the eyes. "Tort!"

"Oh, yeah," Felicia said flatly. "I completely see where it's not your fault." In her lap, Ajax snickered.

Scowling deeply, Arden said, "Oh, yeah, you think you're such a good trainer, huh? Well, you're not. I could beat you in a battle and I could do it _easily._"

"Is that what you think?" said Felicia, laughing. Ajax laughed right along with her. "That's just precious."

Arden stood up. "That's it!" he said. "I am tired of you belittling me all the time, you little brat! Outside, now! We're battling."

Felicia looked at him coldly. "You won't win," she said. "I've been training for years. You've been training for—what? A couple months?"

"We are battling," said Arden stubbornly.

Felicia sighed. "Does everything always have to be so dramatic with you?" she said. "Fine. We'll battle when I'm finished with these cookies. Why don't you go outside and wait for me, or something."

"Fine," said Arden, grabbing Gimpy by the arm and marching to the door. Gaius followed him out into the street.

"You sure you want to battle her, baby brother?" he asked, closing the door behind himself. "She's not just making empty bluffs. Her team does have an advantage over yours, level-wise. It'll be quite a kick to the pride."

"Nothing's worse than having her always put me down like that," spat Arden.

Gaius sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I guess I can understand that," he said. "Here, let me see your team. Maybe I can give you a few pointers that could help you."

Arden smiled. "Really?" he said. "Alright!"

He sent out all his pokemon at once. Immediately, Blazer and Gentry went at it and had to be pulled apart, as Cruelty sat hunched, a little ways from the others, watching them malevolently. Gaius looked the pokemon over. "I'd start with golbat," he said. "Your golbat's got decent moves and it pretty fast, so begin with him. And for that vulpix—well, it'll give you that much more a boost if you evolve it."

"Evolve him? I don't know how," said Arden, rubbing his arm.

Gaius slapped one hand over his eyes. "Baby brother, baby brother, baby brother—didn't you pay any attention in school?" he asked with an exasperated sigh. "Vulpix is one the pokemon that evolves when you touch it with a firestone."

"I don't have a firestone," said Arden.

"Ah, hold on," Gaius said, digging through the pockets of his long, leather coat. At length, he located the object of his search and held it up. "Here. Use this one."

Arden took it gingerly, examining it. "It's beautiful," he said, staring at the orange stone. "How does it work?"

"It lets of a sort of radiation—"

"Ah! Radiation?!" Arden thrust the stone out, away from himself.

"Calm down," said Gaius. "It only affects pokemon. It changes their genetic structure, allowing them to reach the next stage of their evolution."

"That doesn't sound too safe…"

"It's fine," said Gaius. "Just touch that stone to your vulpix, and it'll evolve."

Arden nodded, and knelt down next to Blazer, who was being held away from Gentry by Gaius. Blazer began to glow, changing into a ninetails with luxurious, lavender fur. "He looks so… fruity," said Arden.

"Normally, they're supposed to be yellow," said Gaius. "Anyway, you should probably put your pokemon back in their balls. You might not want Felicia to know I was coaching you on this. Even if you win, she'd just mock you for needing my help. She's a sweet girl… but she just _hates _you for some reason."

_**A/N:** Whoo, fifty chapters! This is a huge accomplishment for me. To celebrate, I baked you a cake._

_...but then I eated it._


	51. Felicia's Flashback

Olivine City was a beautiful place, full of wind and sun and fresh salty breeze of ocean air. However, to Felicia, it could not have been more hideous and abhorrent. She had moved there with her father when she was seven, after her mother had left him for another man.

Felicia's father was a man who smoked.

He didn't seem too torn up to lose his wife. Felicia's father never seemed to torn up about anything. She asked him as they packed up their belongings why they had to leave New Bark town.

"Because there's nothing left here for us," her father told her. "We're going somewhere new."

Felicia frowned. "But, Daddy—I don't want to go somewhere new," she said, tearing up a little. "What about my friends? Will we able to visit?"

Her father shook his head. "We're going very far away," he told her. "Don't worry. You'll like it there."

She hated it there. The ocean made her sick to look at, and the salty air was too cold for her. She hated Olivine's gaunt light tower, and its winding streets, and its beach covered in rocks. For years, she'd cry herself to sleep every night, thinking of the friends she'd left behind when she'd been dragged across the region to a city she didn't know and didn't want to know.

Her father didn't care. He was rarely around, anyway—always away on business, elsewhere. He'd leave her with an older woman, to watch after her. The woman was nice, but Felicia didn't like her. Felicia didn't like anyone, really—not since she moved.

"What's wrong, deary?" asked the woman, as she came out onto her balcony find nine-year-old Felicia there, leaned against the rail. "I made chowder. Why don't you come inside and have some chowder?"

"I don't want any stupid chowder," said Felicia, crossing her arms on the rail and laying her face on them. She glared out at the city. "I hate stupid chowder."

The woman frowned slightly. "Is there something you wanna talk about, sweetie?"

"Stop calling me cutsie names like that," said Felicia. "I'm not your daughter."

The woman looked hurt, but Felicia couldn't see the expression. "A-alright," she said, turning back inside. "There's chowder if you want any…"

Felicia glanced over her shoulder, just in time to see the woman disappear within. "Figures," she mumbled, turning her face back toward the railing. Her face was red and wet with tears, and she rubbed the moisture away with the back of her arm. "No one here cares…"

She reached to her waist, where a single pokeball was secured and lifted it up. Her father had sent it to her from Cherrygrove. He'd sent it by mail—hadn't even bothered to bring it personally, or to even include a letter with it expressing his love or good wishes. Felicia's father never sent his love or good wishes. He wasn't a man who thought much of family; it just wasn't the sort of thing he felt he was cut out for.

With a subdued sniffle, she released the pokemon onto the balcony beside her. The sentret, freed, stretched itself and looked up at her, bright-eyed. "Hey, Phoebe," said Felicia, picking the pokemon up and hugging her against her chest. The sentret wiped some tears from her cheek. "Aw, that's sweet of you…"

"Sentret," said Phoebe, hugging her trainer's neck.

"Phoebe," said Felicia, gazing out across Olivine City. From there, she could see the rural area north of town, full of fields and forests and dairies, all with a quaint little path leading the way through it. "Do you think it would matter to anyone if we ran away from here? I mean, Dad's never home, mom left and never even called or sent a letter… It's not like I have any friends in this stupid place…"

"Tret," said Phoebe sadly.

Felicia sighed wistfully and leaned over the rail, as the sentret climbed up onto her shoulder. "There's a whole world out there, Phoebe," said the girl. "A whole world that's much better than this place. No one cares about me here. I might as well not exist at all…"

"Tret…"

"But out there," Felicia said, nodding her head toward the green landscape. "I could make friends with a whole bunch of pokemon—just like you and I are friends. We wouldn't have to be alone all the time, then."

"Sentret…"

"No one would notice if we left," she said, staring off into the distance. It was a chilly, overcast day—a miserable, feel-sad day. Suddenly she stood up. "Why don't we?"

"Tret?"

"Why don't we just go, Phoebe?" she said, picking the pokemon up from her shoulder and holding her to her chest. "I don't want to wait around here anymore. I'm tired of being inconsequential. I want to go, and I want—I want to be someone! I want to be loved, like everyone else. I want people to look up when I pass and say 'there goes Felicia, greatest trainer we ever knew! There she is with Phoebe, greatest pokemon we ever saw!' And we'd go all around, and we'd go back to New Bark town where all our friends were."

She stared off into the distance, making her mind up. She was set on it, now. She'd leave that very day, not more than an hour after. By the next day, she'd be all the way in Ecruteak City. No one would search for her; if anyone noticed the absence, no fuss was made at all.

"We'll never go back," Felicia told her sentret as they left town. "Because there's nothing left here for us."


	52. Goldenrod City III

Arden and Felicia stood across from each other in the wide, but seldom used, street. Gaius and Valor sat on a bench next to the house watching. "Oh, I want to cheer for Arden," Valor said to Gaius. "But I don't want to hurt Felicia's feelings." From a roof top across the street, Dixie watched the battle with interest.

Felicia held up her first pokeball. "Go, Ajax!" she said.

"Dile!" shouted Ajax, appearing from within the ball.

"Go, Fang!" Arden yelled, throwing out a pokeball. The golbat appeared with a screech and swooped up, over their heads.

"Ajax, watergun!"

"Fang," said Arden. "Use wing attack!"

"Gol!" screeched Fang. He gave a hard flap of his wings, creating a powerful wind which shot in the totodile's direction. Ajax rolled backwards, struck, and Felicia caught him.

"Oh, Ajax—baby, it's alright," she said, hugging the fainted pokemon to her chest. "You tried, baby, you tried. Return." She drew the pokemon back into his pokeball. "Don't get cocky—Ajax is a brand new pokemon, and I haven't had time to properly train him yet."

Fang began to glow, and change. Arden looked up at the pokemon, startled. Dixie leaned forward where he was seated on the building across from them. "That golbat's _evolving_?" he whispered.

The light faded away, revealing that Fang had become a sleek-winged crobat. Arden looked just as taken aback as anyone by the development. Felicia tilted her head slightly and said, "Hold on a minute—you treat one of your pokemon good enough that it'll evolve for you?"

Arden puffed out his chest. He meant to say 'of course', but all that came out was, "Apparently!"

"Well, we'll see what good it does him," said Felicia. "Go, Prometheus!"

With a flash, a cyndaquil appeared before her. Gaius clapped. "Whoo!" he said. "Go, Prometheus!"

Arden glared at his brother. "Hey!" he said. "What're you cheering for _her _side for, huh?"

"Sorry," said Gaius with a shrug. "That's Daryle's baby—I gotta be supportive of my own pokemon's babe, don't I?"

Arden gritted his teeth and turned back to the battle. "Fang," he said. "Use return!"

Fang screeched. "Cro!" shouted the pokemon, shooting through the sky at the cyndaquil. He struck the little pokemon hard with his wing, knocking him down and causing him to faint. Felicia returned him without a word. She held up another ball. "Go, Phoebe!"

A furret was released from Felicia's pokeball. She wound her long body around her trainer affectionately, and Felicia kissed the top of the pokemon's head. Arden scowled and shouted to Fang, "Use return again!"

"Cro!" screeched Fang, swooping toward Felicia and her pokemon.

"Me first!" Felicia yelled. Phoebe sprang from her side, into the air.

Fang collided with the furret mid-flight. Phoebe drew back one of her short arms and smacked the crobat in the back of the head before smacking him in the face with the other hand. Arden's pokemon crashed to the ground, the rival pokemon on his back. Phoebe leapt from the defeated crobat, returning to Felicia's side.

"Nng—whatever," growled Arden, holding up Fang's pokeball. "I still have the lead here! Go, Blazer!"

The ninetails appeared.

"That's a very pretty pokemon," said Felicia. "Too bad it's not going to last long."

"That's what you think," said Arden. "Flamethrower!"

"Sucker punch!"

Blazer hunched his back and prepared for his offensive. Before he could attack, however, Phoebe disappeared, only to reappear beside him. The ninetails yelped in surprise as the furret hit him hard across the face with her tail, sending him rolling over the ground. Arden cried out as his pokemon fainted. "How is it so quick?!" he shouted. Angrily he returned Blazer to his pokeball. "This isn't even fair!"

"Of course it's not fair," responded Felicia as Phoebe returned to her side. "You're a horrible trainer, and I'm a wonderful one. Our pokemon are miles away from each other in terms of care and training. What did you expect would happen?"

Grinding his teeth together, Arden held up yet another pokeball. "Okay, you asked for it! Cruelty!" he said. With a flash, the raichu appeared, arching his back. Electricity crackled at his cheeks. "I can't promise your safety now that I have to use this one."

Felicia looked underwhelmed. "Uh-huh," she said.

"Alright, Cruelty," said Arden, jerking the whip Gaius had gave him off his belt. He cracked it loudly beside the pokemon. "Thunder!"

"Hyper voice," said Felicia, throwing out her hand.

"Fur-ret!" shouted Phoebe, drawing back. She opened her mouth wide and let out a sound which caused Arden to fall to the ground, covering his ears. The force of the sound was so great that he could feel it press against him, blowing back his hair and rustling his clothes. When he ventured to look, he saw that Cruelty was sprawled out on the ground, unconscious.

"Oh, _come on_!" shouted Arden, leaping to his feet. He was frustrated beyond measure. "That's not—how could you… _Oh_, come _on_!"

"I told you to begin with," said Felicia. "There's no possible way for you to beat my team with such a low-level ensemble as yours."

"She's right, Arden," said Gaius. "Your pokemon aren't _bad, _but they're certainly not on the same platform as Felicia's team."

"Well, I don't care!" shouted Arden. "It's not all about levels!"

"It is when you're a horrible strategist," said Felicia.

"Shut up! I don't want to hear a single word from you ever again! Shut up!" said Arden. "Gentry, Go!"

The nidoran appeared with a cry.

"Surf, Phoebe!" Felicia commanded.

Phoebe arched her back as a wave materialized beneath her. Gentry dropped to the ground and covered his head with his front paws as the massive wall of water crashed down on him. When the water receded, Arden was frustrated—though not surprised—to find Gentry had been knocked out cold. Tears of anger and humiliation were gathering on Arden's lashes.

"Arden," said Gaius. "You should forfeit; all you're managing to do is injure your pokemon. Save the last ones the pain and just quit."

"No!" said Arden. "No, I'm not defeated yet! Thief!"

Felicia sighed as the persian was sent onto the field. "How tiresome," she said.

"Pay day!"

"Me first!"

A spray of coins erupted from the furret, striking Thief again and again. He cried out and fell unconscious. Felicia said coldly, "Gaius has it right. If you had any compassion for your pokemon at all, you'd admit that I've bested you and you'd give up these futile attempts to win. You're just running on uncaring pride."

Arden ground his teeth and held up another pokeball, glaring at Felicia. "Go, Gimpy!" The girl sighed, and her pokemon shook her head.

"Tort!"

"Gimpy, water pulse!"

"Sucker punch!"

Phoebe darted to Gimpy's side, punching him in the side of the head. "Tort!" objected the wartortle, falling backwards.

"Don't you dare faint!" Arden yelled, pulling Gimpy back to his feet. "If you faint right now I'm going to fill your shell with cement and toss you into a lake!"

"Waaar," said Gimpy, dazed and in back shape.

"I don't think he should keep battling," said Valor. "He doesn't look so well, Ardie."

"He's fine," said Arden. He shoved Gimpy forward. "Water pulse!"

"Torrr," mumbled the wartortle. He shot a blast of water from his mouth. It struck Phoebe dead on, though she did little but close her eyes against the blast.

"End this, Phoebe," commanded Felicia. "Hyper voice!"

Phoebe let out a blast of sound, which knocked Gimpy backwards, into Arden. The trainer fell down, and his pokemon skidded over the road, soundly beaten. The sound died out and Arden picked up Gimpy. He slapped the pokemon across the face. "Wake up and fight!" he shouted. Tears were blurring his vision and his heart was racing very fast.

"He's down, baby brother," said Gaius.

"No, no, no," said Arden, squeezing his eyes shut. He was breathing quite rapidly now, and everything was getting very hot. "No, he's not. He's going to… he's… going to…"

Arden fell to his knees, and blacked out.


	53. Goldenrod City IV

Arden woke to find himself inside a pokemon center. Cursing silently to himself, he stood up and went to the counter. "Hey," he said to the nurse. "My pokemon—"

"Right here," she said with a smile. "Fighting fit!"

He took them. "I really hate that phrase," he grumbled, clipping them to his belt. He walked outside, sighing deeply, and paused on the street. Gazing in the direction of his home, he mumbled, "But I can't exactly go back after that, can I?"

"Oh, I think you can," said Dixie from a nearby alleyway.

"Gah!" Arden jumped and spun around. "Ah—Dixie! Dixie, don't… don't sneak up on me like that."

"Sorry. I've been leaning against this wall for about an hour, waiting for you to come out of there."

"Really? I was in there that long, huh?" said Arden. "Ah—anyway, what're you doing here? I'd have thought you'd have gone back to Kanto after my mom slammed that door in your face."

Dixie smiled sadly. "Yeah, you'd think so," he said. "But, if it had been the other way around, would you have left?"

"Probably," said Arden. "Though, I can't imagine why you're mom would be in Johto, slamming doors in my face."

The Rocket grunt sighed. "You… have trouble understanding a lot of things, don't you?"

"Not a _lot_," said Arden, shrugging.

"So, you're not going back there, huh?" asked Dixie. Arden shook his head.

"I can't," he said, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "I just… I can't. Felicia and I battle and… she stomped the ever-living shit out of me. I can't face Gaius and Mom after that."

Dixie nodded sympathetically. "I was watching," he said. "She did beat you pretty good. But… They're your family, Arden—will they really care about that?"

"I don't know. I mean, I'm sure they'll say they don't. That's what they always do," said Arden. "But I… I just can't face them like this. Mom and Gaius are the best trainers I ever knew—I can't go back to either one after they've seen what a failure I am at pokemon training."

"I don't think you're a failure," said Dixie, putting his hands on Arden's shoulders. Arden looked up at him.

"…you're going to kiss me again, aren't you?" he asked, frowning.

"Perhaps. But first, the rest of my heart-felt pep talk," said Dixie. Arden bit his lower lip and looked away. "I don't think you're a failure, Arden. I think you're just a young trainer, who's making some mistakes, and learning to get past them. No one starts out a good trainer."

"Felicia did."

"Well, if Felicia jumped of a bridge, would you?" said Dixie, rolling his eyes.

Arden shrugged. "Probably not," he said. "I'd probably be too busy celebrating."

"You shouldn't say things like that," Dixie told him. "Now if she falls off a bridge, you're going to feel horrible."

"That, or it'll all even out and I'll just feel neutral."

Dixie slapped him lightly on the cheek. "Hey, now," he said. "Your cousin's not a bad person, and you really shouldn't say things like that about her. At the very least, she's a human being, just like you, and that deserves respect."

Arden blinked. "I'm sorry—are you lecturing me about respecting people for being human beings? Aren't you part of a massive crime syndicate?" he asked.

"Yes I am," said Dixie. "And when a professional criminal needs to lecture you about being nice to people, that should be a sign to you that you've been a major ass."

Sighing, Arden said, "I guess you're right. You're a good guy, Dixie—how'd you even end up in Team Rocket?"

Dixie crossed his arms and leaned back, tilting his face up slightly. "Well," he said slowly. "I was… I was a new trainer, all alone and nowhere to go, and I wasn't too good at it. I didn't think I'd ever get better and I was feeling really isolated. So, I met a Rocket, and he convinced me that I should join the team—that it was like a second family."

"Is it?"

"Well… The Rocket that recruited me was nice," said Dixie. "Er, most of the time. Some times he'd get on a real aggressive streak and he'd chew me out over the smallest things… But mostly he was nice. He took me under his wing for a while, taught me how to train Bruno and Nathair better. We had some good times, he and I…" Dixie's eyes were getting slightly misty. "He got transferred to the Johto sector, actually. I should… I should go visit him, really. Except, I don't know where specifically he got sent to…"

"Sounds like he meant a lot to you," said Arden uncomfortably. "If, uh, if you're going to start crying do you think I could maybe just, uh, go? I'm sure you don't want me to see you break down or anything."

"No, no—I'm fine," said Dixie. He wiped at his eyes with the back of one gloved hand. "Though, I suppose you should be getting back to your family. I'm sure your brother and your mother are worried."

"Oh no," Arden said. "I told you—after that beating, I'm not going back there. Gaius and Mom are so far above me… I just—I refuse to go back to them until I can stand at their level."

Dixie put his arms around Arden's neck and looked him in the eyes. "That's not an easy route," he said. "If they're so strong as you say, then to be like them will be a hard journey full of stumbles and short-comings and heartbreaks."

"I know," Arden said, unflinchingly. "I've been beneath them my whole life and I… I'm just sick of it."

"That's a very ambitious thing for you to decide," Dixie said, smiling. He rested his forehead against Arden's. "I like that. Ambition is very handsome on you."

Arden gulped. "You are _very _close."

"I can get closer," said Dixie softly. Arden felt his heart pounding against his chest as Dixie's lips moved closer to his.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" asked Felicia, clearing her throat. Dixie jumped and Arden pushed him away quickly.

"How long have you been standing there? Why are you standing there?" said Arden quickly as Dixie leaned nonchalantly against the wall. "What did you hear? Or see? Or—hey! Get out of here! I don't want to listen to your gloating."

"Woah," said Felicia, holding up her hands. "Wind _down_. —Though, I have been standing here for a while and I did see you almost kiss him."

Arden blushed. "I did not."

"Well, that's what the word 'almost' means, there, genius," said Felicia, rolling her eyes. Arden blushed harder.

"Look, if you want to brag about our battle, just forget it. I'm not going to hear it."

"I'm not here to brag," Felicia said with a shrug. "I know you're just starting out as a trainer and you really didn't stand a chance to begin with; —what's the point of bragging? I mean, I only battled because _you_ challenged _me_, and seemed so gung-ho about it."

"Oh, gee," said Arden dryly. "Well, I sure am glad you didn't come to boast."

"Well," said Felicia crossing her arms. "Facts aren't boasting, Arden. Sorry you don't understand that."

"What did you come here for?" asked Arden, glaring at her.

"I wanted to trade you," said Felicia, holding up a pokeball.

"Trade me? Trade me what? Why?"

"I want your ninetails," Felicia said, crossing her arms behind her back. "I like the color. It's all pretty and lavender. I love lavender, you know."

"You mean Blazer?" said Arden. "Why would I trade you Blaze?"

"Well, I know how much you like cyndaquil," Felicia said. "I'm willing to trade you Prometheus for Blazer—of course, you'll have to rename that ninetails, because Blazer's a stupid name. I mean, like a jacket? Seriously? No. Just no. He will be called Icarus instead."

"I don't know," said Arden slowly. "I mean, Prometheus was one of your pokemon that I managed to beat."

"True," said Felicia. "But his sire is none other than Gaius' Daryle. With such a strong father, how could Prometheus be anything less?"

Arden crossed his arms. "Well, I can't beat that logic," he announced at length. He reached to his belt and pulled a pokeball from it. "Here you are—Blazer."

"Ah—Icarus."

"Fine. Icarus."

Felicia squealed with delight and took it. "Here you go," she said, handing him Prometheus' pokeball. She started away giddily, waving to Arden. "Good luck on your training, cousin—you're certainly going to need to buckle down on that."

"I feel like she was up to something with that," Arden mumbled to Dixie, watching her go.

"I spent a lot of time with her coming here," Dixie said. "She was definitely up to something there."

Arden let out a deep sigh. "I just got screwed in that deal, didn't I?"

"Probably," said Dixie. He threw his arm over Arden's shoulders. "How 'bout we go back to Kanto, eh?"

Arden nodded and they started along the street in the opposite direction Felicia had gone. A shadow lurked in a dark alleyway, observing them as they went. Beside the spying figure, a stantler ground its hoof into the ground and tossed its head. "Easy, Adalhelm," said the figure, putting a white-gloved hand on the pokemon's head. He stroked its head, calming it a bit. "Easy…"


	54. Route 36

Arden and Dixie traveled abreast of each other, along the path north of Goldenrod City. "So we can get back to New Bark town this way?" Dixie asked. Arden nodded. "And we don't have to go through the forest?"

"Nope," Arden said, carrying Prometheus in his arms. "It's pretty much a straight shot. We'll pass through Cherrygrove and Violet, and that's pretty much it."

Dixie blinked and turned to Zahur, who was trotting along at his heal. "Felicia lied to us!" he said to the chikorita. Arden raised one eyebrow. "She told us that the only way to get to Goldenrod was to go south, through Ilex forest."

"Oh," said Arden. "Well, she doesn't like coming this way, for whatever reason. I think it's too close to Olivine for her."

"Is it that close?"

"Eh, not really," said Arden with a shrug. "I mean, you have to go through Ecruteak, and then west through all this farmland to get to there… Do you want to go see it? I could show you the way. It's got a beach and a light house, but other than that it's a little boring." He paused. "Oh! But I could show you the towers of Ecruteak! Those are really awesome!"

"What's so awesome about them?" asked Dixie.

"They're really big, and really old," Arden told him. "Well, one of them's really big. The other one burned down a long time ago. There are all sorts of legends about Ecruteak—you _have_ to see it!"

"You're very enthusiastic about this," noted Dixie. "Alright—alright, I think I'd like to have a look."

Arden smiled. Despite everything he had said, he didn't want to go back to Kanto. He hated Kanto. Kanto was a strange place filled with strange people and strange pokemon, and he hated it. He hated trying so hard, only to lose even harder. Anything that would delay his inevitable defeat by more gym leaders was a good plan to him.

As they reached the northernmost end of the root, dusk was full upon them. Dixie scowled. "It's getting dark again," he mumbled.

"Korita!" said Zahur, swishing the leaf atop his head from side to side.

"Yeah," said Arden. "It does that every day. It's called night time."

"How distasteful…"

"Don't worry about," said Arden as they ventured into a channel between two sturdy rows of trees, over grown with thick, green grass. "We're going to be in Ecruteak soon, so we should be alright when it gets real dark. We'll stay there for the night and continue to Olivine in the morning."

"And the towers?"

"Well, we can see those in the morning, too."

"Or, we can do it tonight," Dixie said.

"But you won't be able to see how impressive they are at night. Best to wait 'till morning."

Dixie frowned. "If you say so, I guess…"

The grass rustled ahead of them, and the two boys stopped. A female nidoran poked her head out of the grass. Dixie looked at Arden, "Do you want to take this one, or should I deal with it?"

"No, I've got it," said Arden. He held out Prometheus. "I've been dying to test this out, anyway! Okay, Prometheus—go get it! Tackle!"

He set the cyndaquil on the grass. Prometheus hunched his back and whimpered softly. Arden pushed the little pokemon forward. "Go on," he said. "Tackle, stupid."

"Quuuuil," whined the pokemon, lowering his head. The nidoran watched him curiously.

"Don't just stare," said Arden, kicking his cyndaquil. "Fight it!"

"Qui!" yelped Prometheus, scrambling away as Arden kicked him. He cowered beside the wild nidoran, who regarded him with open disgust.

"Ran," she said, shooting a few poisoned pins at him.

"Qui!" Prometheus yelped again, scrambling back to his trainer. He wrapped his arms around Arden's leg and huddled behind him, quaking.

"What the…?" said Arden, scowling. "What on earth is _wrong _with you?!"

"He a bit of a coward, isn't he?" said Dixie, smiling slightly.

"Understatement," said Arden, kicking Prometheus away from his leg. The pokemon shook and clung tighter. "Stop it! Get out there and battle, you useless little rodent!"

"Quil!" yelped the cyndaquil as Arden managed to knock him away. He tumbled across the ground, landing pathetically at the nidoran's feet and she swiped him across the face. He cried out and hid his head under his paws.

"Why doesn't he fight back?!" shouted Arden, grabbing fistfuls of his own hair. "Argh! This is ridiculous!"

Dixie's smile widened. "Well, I dare say that your pokemon's a pacifist," he said, laughing. "At the very least, he doesn't seem to like fighting."

"That's stupid!" said Arden, picking up Prometheus and shaking him. "All pokemon like fighting! Fighting is what they do!"

"Quuuuuilll!"

"Careful now—I think you're hurting him," said Dixie, grabbing Arden's arm gently.

"Ah—and what if I am? Who cares about a pokemon that won't battle?"

Dixie took Prometheus out of Arden's hands. "Come on now, that's not a very good thing to say, Arden," he told the younger boy. "Pokemon have thoughts and feelings, too. They need love, not wonton abuse."

"No, what they _need_ is to battle," spat Arden, snatching back his cyndaquil. The pokemon whimpered. "And if they don't battle, what's the point?"

"The point is that they should be your friends…"

"Well, if you don't think battle is important," said Arden. "Trade me."

"What?"

"Trade me," said Arden. "Zahur for Prometheus."

"No way," said Dixie laughing. "I'm not going to give you Zahur."

"Yeah, because it's a bad trade and Prometheus won't fight."

"No," said Dixie, flicking Arden on the nose with two fingers. "I won't trade because Zahur is my friend, and I'm not going to trade away a friend. Especially since I've seen how you treat your pokemon."

Arden pouted and turned away. "Hey!" he shouted, eyes widening. "It got away! Ah, damn it!"

Dixie clapped him on the back. "I wouldn't worry about it," he said. "It's not like that was a battle you were going to win, anyway. There'll be others."

Arden gritted his teeth and kicked the base of a tree. "I guess," he mumbled, starting again through the grass. Dixie smiled and watched him go for a moment before starting to follow. He heard a faint rustle and snapped his head toward it just in time to catch a glimpse of antlers and a flash of black, disappearing into the red shadows of twilight. The Rocket Grunt paused, narrowing his eyes, staring into the shadows hanging thick all about them. "Dixie—hey, come on! I don't want to be too late getting to Ecruteak or we won't be able to find anywhere to stay!"

"Uh, right," said Dixie, slowly. He followed after the young trainer, his eyes still set on the same spot until they rounded and bend and it was no longer visible. As he walked, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching him, but every time he looked around he saw no one, nothing.

"Korita?" said Zahur, noting his trainer's anxiety.

_**A/N:**__ Sorry this took so long! I just started classes at my new school, so updates are gonna be slower than my previous pace. I've only got one class on some days, though, so I'll try to get at least a chapter a week done. However, this is all subject to change with my workload._


	55. Ecruteak City

They arrived in Ecruteak a few hours after the sun had set. It was a large town, Dixie noted, but the entire place had a quiet, traditional air about it. The little wooden buildings with their peaked roofs and traditional color schemes seemed so archaic. Dixie followed Arden into a small inn. "We'll have to go see the kimono girls, too," Arden said as they entered. "They dance. And wear kimonos—but that much is obvious, huh?"

"Welcome," said an old man behind the counter of the inn. "How can I help you?"

"We'd like two rooms, please," said Arden, leaning against the counter as, at his feet, Prometheus surveyed the lobby timidly.

"We're all booked up 'cept for one room," the man told him.

"Two beds?" Arden asked hopefully. The man shook his head, prompting the young trainer to let out a groan.

"That's alright," said Dixie. "I can sleep on the floor."

"Alright," said Arden, turning back to the old man. "We'll take the room, then."

"Very good," said the old man. He turned and pulled a key from a peg on the wall behind him and handed it to the boy. "Come see me whenever you're ready to check out. Sleep well, young men."

Dixie thanked the man and they headed down the hall to their room. The room was small and tidy, with a single bed at its center, and a window which looked out on a dark courtyard with a serene fountain bubbling away, surrounded by carefully manicured grass. Arden threw himself onto the bed and lay there, with his hands folded under his neck, as Prometheus tried to climb up onto it.

"I can't believe Felicia cheated me like that," he mumbled, watching the cyndaquil struggle. Dixie picked the pokemon up and placed him on top of the bed.

"She's… a very ambitious girl," Dixie said, leaning against the wall. He hadn't mentioned anything about robbing the lab and he didn't plan to. "I'm sure she would've gotten that ninetails from you, one way or another, if her mind was set on it. This was the least unforgivable way."

He fished a cigarette from his belt and Arden sat up. "What're you doing?" he said. "You can't smoke in doors!"

"Why not?" asked Dixie, holding it just short of his lips.

"Because it's gross," said Arden. "You'll make it smell like smoke in here. And not nice smoke, like barbeque smoke."

Dixie sighed. "Fine," he said. "I'll take it outside, then. See you in a few."

He straightened up and left the room, clenching the unlit cigarette between his teeth. The Rocket grunt left the inn and walked around to the side of the building. Leaning against the wall, he looked up at the starry sky, silently marveling at how many could be seen from here. He pulled his lighter from his belt and lit his cigarette, his eyes still turned towards the heavens. He was taken with the beauty, and failed to notice the stantler dashing toward him before it was too late to react. The stantler crashed into him, knocking him against the wall. Before he could recover, he took a hard punch to the jaw, and his chest was slammed against the wall as someone unseen held his arms behind his back.

Dixie took a sharp breath and struggled against his attacker, but the other party pressed hard against him, preventing him from getting free. "Wh—who are you? What is this?" he demanded. He could feel a fresh cut on his lip bleeding slightly.

"Hello, Dixie," the assailant whispered into his ear. He recognized the voice immediately.

"St-Stanislaus?"

The attacker turned him around roughly so that they were face to face. By the moonlight he saw the face he knew so well—the dark blue eyes and light brown hair and broad, powerful bone structure of Wolf Stanislaus, a member of Team Rocket little older than himself. They stared each other in the eyes for a few moments and then, quite suddenly, Stanislaus leaned forward and kissed Dixie violently on the lips. He let go of Dixie's arms and the younger Rocket pushed him away.

"Stanislaus," he said, rubbing his lips with the back of one hand. The cut in his lip stung terribly. "What's—what're you doing here? Why did you hit me?"

Stanislaus smiled. "I thought I'd surprise you," he said. His stantler was slowly walking back and forth behind him, his eyes focused on Dixie.

"Well, mission accomplished," said Dixie, hunching his shoulders. "You busted my lip, Wolf."

Stanislaus narrowed his eyes slightly. "You know I don't like it when you call me Wolf," he said quietly.

"Sorry," mumbled Dixie. He nodded his head toward the pacing stantler. "What's that?"

"That's Adalhelm, my stantler," said Stanislaus, half turning to look at the pokemon.

"What happened to Orla?"

"She died," Stanislaus said flatly. "Killed in battle."

"Oh," said Dixie, frowning. "I'm sorry, Stanislaus…"

"Think nothing of it," the older boy said, his voice without emotion. "She was weak and useless, anyway. Adalhelm's superior in battle; it's all that matters."

Dixie bit his lip. "I hear that sentiment a lot lately," he said slowly. "You know, it's funny—I was just thinking earlier about paying you a visit, but I wasn't sure where you were…"

"I was following _you_," Stanislaus said, his gaze turning on the younger Rocket.

"Following me?" said Dixie. "Stanislaus—I really, really don't think we… I mean, I mean what I said back then, and I still mean it."

"You've been missing a lot. That's the message we got in Mahogany," he said, crossing his arms. "I volunteered to track you down and make sure you hadn't gone rogue."

"Oh," said Dixie, looking vaguely disappointed. "So then you haven't been following me for any _other_ reason…? Ah, good then…"

"Well, perhaps—after all, I did volunteer when I found out it was you," he answered, looking sideways at Dixie. "All the same, it's not so good for you. See, what I found, my dear Dixie, is you look an awful lot like you _have_ gone rogue."

Dixie's eyes widened. "I haven't," he said quickly. "I swear it!"

"See, now," Stanislaus said leaning forward and pinning Dixie against the wall. "That's not what I observed. I saw you make a move on a laboratory with no direction to, and then I saw you travel with some girl, and then with some boy… And all this after you deserted your post in Saffron. You were s'posed to be guarding Silph Co, I heard, but then you left, and let the entrance free to be breached by a ten-year-old wonder-kid. He stopped the whole operation—beat _everyone_. Because you abandoned your post to go on a walk about through Johto."

"I didn't know—oh, you've got to believe me, Stan," he replied. "You know me; you know I wouldn't up and quit Team Rocket."

"Well, that's not how it looks," said Stanislaus, narrowing his eyes. "It looks like you've left us, Dixie, and we really don't like that…" Behind him, Adalhelm lowered his head and ground one hoof into the street.

"It's not—I didn't," said Dixie quickly, he was beginning to shake.

"Then how about you explain to us what it is your doing, eh?"

"The—the kid you saw me with," Dixie said. "I'm trying to recruit him. That's all."

"Not a very good reason to leave your post," said Stanislaus. "But far less suspect, at any rate. Hm… If you're serious, bring the kid to Mahogany. That's where we're based out of for this region. Bring him there, and we'll get him suited up and ready to join the ranks."

Dixie swallowed hard and nodded. "Ah, yes," he said.

Stanislaus leaned against him, sliding his hands down to rest on Dixie's hips. "I've missed you, you know," he said softly.

"Let's not do this, Stanislaus," Dixie pleaded half-heartedly.

The other Rocket ignored him, kissing him on the mouth, much gentler this time—kissing him just like he used to. Dixie's knees shook and he felt weak, and when Wolf Stanislaus pulled away, Dixie was sadder than he'd ever been. "Mahogany, tomorrow," Stanislaus said, taking a step back away from him. "If you're not there tomorrow, I'm going to assume you've been lying and that you've gone rogue. You know what'll happen then; I won't show you mercy, either. Adalhelm, come."

He started away and, with an angry snort directed at Dixie, the stantler followed. Dixie stared after Stanislaus until his black uniform blended into the night and he was gone. Touching the cut in his lip gingerly with his thumb, he headed back to his room.


	56. Route 42

Dixie was distant the rest of the night, and when they left the inn the next morning he continued to be uncharacteristically quiet. Finally, Arden asked him, "Hey, are you alright? You don't seem like yourself."

"I'm fine," said Dixie. "I just have… a touch of a headache is all."

"So," Arden said as they paused on the street. Over the peaked roofs of the buildings surrounding them, a majestic pagoda-like construction was visible, stretching into the sky. "Do you want to go see the Tin Tower first, or the dance studio? The kimono girls do real neat dances…"

Dixie ran his tongue along the cut in his lower lip, looking away. "Actually," he said, after a moment. "I'd like to go see Mahogany Town, if that's alright with you."

"Mahogany?" asked Arden, stooping to pick up Prometheus, who had been tugging at his pant leg. "Why would you want to go there? It's so dull; nothing to see, except maybe the Lake of Rage, and even that isn't nearly as exciting as the name suggests."

"I remembered that I had a relative who lives there I'd like to visit," Dixie told him. "Can we go? It's not very far, is it?"

"No, it's the next town over—not very far at all," said Arden. "Still a pretty boring place, though, but I'll show you where it is." Prometheus nipped at one of his fingers. "Ow—hey! I pick you up and that's the thanks I get?!" He dropped the pokemon to the ground, causing him to tumble.

"Qui!" yelped Prometheus, scrambling back onto his feet.

"Poor thing," said Dixie. He knelt down next to the cyndaquil and reached out a hand to stroke his head, but the pokemon pulled away and hunched it's back.

"Quil!" barked the little pokemon, flames bursting out along his back.

Dixie blinked and withdrew his hand.

"Woah," said Arden. "He looks angry at you, doesn't he? Did you kick him or something while I was asleep?"

Dixie shook his head as he stood up. "Not that I know of," he said as the cyndaquil growled at him. "Maybe you've been successful in making him hate all people with your treatment of him."

"Hey," said Arden shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not the one he's upset with. Right, Theus?"

"Qui!" said Prometheus, pulling at Arden's pant leg again.

"Can we please get going to Mahogany?" asked Dixie.

"Yeah, right," said Arden. "You sure you don't want to see anything here, first?"

"How about later?"

"Okay," Arden said. "Later, then. Come on, the route to Mahogany's this way…"

They reached the route and walked along silently—Arden with Prometheus waddling briskly behind him, Dixie walking with his arms crossed over his thin chest. At length, they came to a small lake, which blocked their progress. "I forgot about this," said Arden, putting his hands on his hips and frowning. "I never did go to Mahogany without Mom or Gaius, 'cause of the water here. Can any of your pokemon surf?"

"No—what do you mean, yours can't either?"

Arden rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I dunno," he said. "I—I don't have the hidden machine, so I never really tried to teach them…"

Dixie reached into his belt and produced a disk, which he held out to Arden. "Here—this is surf. I picked it up a while ago in my hometown," he said. "Your wartortle should be able to learn this."

Arden took the HM and nodded, grabbing up Gimpy's pokeball from his belt and holding it out in front of himself. With a flash, the lame pokemon appeared, yawning and stretching his stubby arms. "Tortle," said Gimpy, looking around. Prometheus yelped and scrambled away from him, behind Arden's leg, leaving the water pokemon to cock his head to one side. "Tort?"

"Hey," said Arden, holding the disk out to Gimpy. "Hey, learn this."

"Wartortle?" said Gimpy, looking up at the hidden machine. He took it hesitantly, unsure what to do with it. "…war?"

"Hold it up to your head," said Arden. "That's how Cruelty did it. No! Not like that—like this!" He slapped the disk against the pokemon's head.

"Toooort!" objected Gimpy, squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth. He took a few deep breaths.

"Why isn't the disk breaking like it did before?" asked Arden. "Is he even learning it? Gimp—try harder!"

"HMs don't break," said Dixie. "I'm sure he's got it by now. Unless you also want him to have an imprint in his head, you can probably put it away now."

Arden glanced back at the Rocket grunt before pulling the HM away. "Okay, Gimp," he said, grabbing the wartortle by the shoulders. Gimpy stared at him apprehensively. "Okay, get in that water and surf! And Dixie and Theus and I are gonna get on your back, 'kay?"

Gimpy's eyes widened. "Tortle tort!" he said, shaking his head. "Wartortle!"

"Oh, don't be such a baby!" said Arden, picking up Gimpy roughly and carrying him to the water's edge. "We need to get across!"

"Tort! Tort! Tort!" shouted Gimpy, struggling in Arden's arms.

"Hey! Stop that!" said Arden. He threw the wartortle into the water. "Now hold still so we can get on!"

Gimpy thrashed about in the water. "Tortle war tort tortle!"

"That's not holding still!" Arden exclaimed.

"Baby brother!" came Gaius' booming voice from behind them. "Hey! Wondered where you went!"

Arden froze, his expression dampening. Slowly he turned around. "Ah—hey, Gaius," he said. Dixie could see that it hurt him to have to face his brother so soon. For Gaius' part, however, he seemed completely unaware of his little brother's embarrassment as he sat mounted on Quenelle's back, grinning down at the boy.

"Whatcha up to, baby brother?" he asked, leaning forward.

"I'm taking Dixie to Mahogany so he can visit someone," Arden answered. He shot a glare sideways at Gimpy. "Except my stupid wartortle won't let us on his back."

"Well, he's kinda small for that, don't you think?" asked Gaius. Arden shrugged. "Here, why don't you two come on up here on Quen with me, and I'll take you across. I was headed that way, anyhow—headed to the Dragon's Den to do some training."

"Yeah, alright," said Arden, holding up Gimpy's pokeball. He disappeared into it, still splashing about in the water. He nodded for Dixie to go ahead of him and, unsure of how to mount, the Rocket grunt slowly approached the tauros. Quenelle snorted and tossed his head.

"Aur-aur-auros!" he said as Dixie hesitated beside him.

"Come on—he doesn't bite," said Gaius, reaching down and grabbing Dixie's arm firmly. He put his other hand on the young man's waist and, with relative ease, hauled him up onto the tauros' back. As Dixie got situated on the sloping back of the pokemon, Arden scrambled up behind him, carrying Prometheus under one arm. Gaius glanced sideways at the little pokemon. "Hey, is that Felicia's cyndaquil?"

"We traded."

"Ah," said Gaius, digging his heels into Quenelle's sides. The pokemon lurched forward, causing Dixie to sway dangerously, and he grabbed Gaius around the middle tightly. Gaius looked back at him, raising one eyebrow. "You can't keep your balance? We're barely moving at all."

"I… I never rode a pokemon," said Dixie, not loosening his grip any.

"Really? It's the best way to get around," Gaius said as Quenelle trotted across the water as though it were grass. "Faster than walking or riding a bike, and not nearly as tiresome. It's the best."

Dixie just clung tighter, afraid of falling off.

"Is Prometheus really hatched from one of Daryle's eggs?" asked Arden as they crossed the water.

"Yup, sure is," Gaius said. "I know why you ask; he's kinda a shy little fella, isn't he? Well, you know, personalities aren't genetic and all that…"

"What a rip off," said Arden, pouting. "I traded Blaze to her and she gave me a useless pokemon that won't fight." He glared down at the cyndaquil, which was clinging tightly to him as he watched the water below, whimpering miserably. "I always get the short end of the stick on things like this…"

"Hey," Gaius said after a moment. "Do you mind letting go a bit? That's, uh… that's kinda starting to smart."

"Sorry," said Dixie, grabbing hold of Gaius' clothing, instead and holding it tight. He was silent for a moment. "…Your abs are _very_ nice."

"Thank you," Gaius said brightly. "I like to keep in shape. Me and my pokemon train our bodies together."

Arden leaned forward and whispered into Dixie's ear, "He's actually really crazy about that—he used to make me train with him. He'd make me run laps and lift weights and do crunches all day with him and his pokemon."

Dixie frowned. "That sounds so cool," he said. "I wish I had a brother growing up…"

Arden looked at him like he was insane, and neither one could understand the other's difference in opinion over having an older brother to make you run and do crunches with his pokemon.


	57. Stanislaus' Flashback

Wolf Stanislaus was born in Lavender Town to a young woman named Bonnie Stanislaus. He never knew who his father was, and neither did she; it was one of the hazards of a lifestyle like hers. Another one of the hazards was being murdered in the night—and she was, when Wolf was five. And so, just a child, he was left alone in the world, to wander the streets.

It was some time after that he first ran into a Rocket grunt. She was a young woman with a sympathetic streak, who hadn't been a Rocket for very long, herself. She found him on the street, begging and felt sorry for the dirty little street urchin. "Hi," she said, kneeling next to him. "What's your name?"

"Wolfie," he said shyly.

"Where's your momma, Wolfie?" she asked softly.

Too young to understand death, Stanislaus just couldn't say. The Rocket guessed what had happened though. "You're all alone?" she asked. Stanislaus nodded. "Aw, you poor little thing. …would you like to come with me, Wolfie?"

He nodded and she held out her hand to him. "My name's Sevim," she told him. "I'm going to take you to see some nice people, okay?"

"Okay," said the little boy, taking her hand. She led him along, toward Celadon city.

"Do you like pokemon, Wolfie?" asked Sevim as they walked.

Already he was warming up to her;—she had a very kind, round face and large expressive eyes, and every word she spoke was soft and welcoming. "Yeah," said Stanislaus, nodding. "I wanna—I wanna be a trainer."

She smiled. "What's your favorite pokemon?" she asked.

"I like kangaskhan," he told her.

"That's a good pokemon," she said. "They have all sorts of pokemon where I live. Do you know what I do, Wolfie?" He shook his head. "I work for Team Rocket."

"Team Rocket?"

Nodding, she explained, "We go around and make friends with all sorts of pokemon. We get to travel with them, and help save them from people that don't know how to treat them right. Does that sound nice, Wolfie?"

Stanislaus nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I like pokemon. Can I be in it, too?"

"I don't see why not," said Sevim.

And, indeed, when they reached the Celadon base and Sevim spoke to her superior about the boy, he was let into the organization to be trained and indoctrinated. He was given a rattata, Orla, whom he trained diligently within the Team Rocket base for many years, alongside a few other wild children who had been brought into the organization and—occasionally—beside the leader's own son. By age ten, he was a full-fledged Rocket grunt, and was finally allowed to work with the other Rockets, outside of the hide out.

It was a good life for him. Better than he could have otherwise hopped for. And yet, there was something extremely empty about it—something isolated and lonely. He rarely saw the other children outside of training and so, for all purposes, his only friend for many years was Sevim. When he was finally a grunt, they often went out on assignments together, which was nice. Still, however, it seemed to Stanislaus that he was somehow hollow.

"You always look so down," Sevim would tell him. "Cheer up. You're young; you have so much of life ahead of you." She'd kiss him softly on the head, and he couldn't help but smile. She always smelt of flowers. Long after she was gone, Stanislaus would think of her when he was sad and alone, and be absolutely convinced that the smell of flowers was in the air.

It was on one of these days—one of those sad, lonely days long after Sevim was gone, when the scent of flowers was heavy about him—that Stanislaus returned to Lavender Town, now eighteen years old. He walked the streets he had begged on as a child, his hands tucked into his pockets, his trusty raticate Orla behind him. He sighed and Orla brushed against his leg, trying to cheer him up. "I'm alright," he told her, rubbing her behind the ears. He turned his face toward the mountainous path north of the little town. "We're supposed to check the power plant, right?"

"Rati," said Orla, nodding.

As they headed toward the mountainous path, a young man slouched over against the wall of the Pokemon Tower caught Stanislaus' eye. The kid—not much younger than himself, really—was huddled with a fainted sandshrew in his arms, crying silently. He was a handsome youth, Stanislaus thought—a straight nose, curly auburn hair, full lips—and he thought the tears only served to make him more handsome. Stanislaus watched him for a few minutes. He was not a man easily moved to sympathy; as much as he had loved Sevim, he was not like her. Indeed, he might have just walked on and forgot all about the young man, crying and griping his fainted sandshrew, and never thought about it for even a second the rest of his life.

He might have. But on this particular occasion, he did not.

Instead, Wolf Stanislaus approached the youth, hands in his pockets. "Hey," he said, and the young man looked up, rubbing the tears away. His clothing was dirty and tattered and covered in mud. "Looks like your pokemon's knocked out, huh?"

"Y-yeah," said the boy, holding tighter onto his pokemon.

"You're not from here, right?"

"No…"

"Are you crying because your pokemon fainted and you can't find the pokemon center?"

He shook his head. "N-no, that's not it," he told the Rocket Grunt. "I—I guess that's part of it, but no. I'm… I left home and I thought I could do this and I can't and I'm an awful trainer and I've let my pokemon down and I just can't go back I just can't I just—"

"Hey," said Stanislaus, kneeling in front of him and wiping the tears from his cheek gently with his thumb. "Cheer up. You're young; you have so much of life ahead of you. What's your name, kid?"

"Dixie," he answered, sniffing. "I'm… I'm sorry I didn't mean to bore you or anything. I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it, Dixie," Stanislaus said, smiling. Dixie felt himself swoon a tiny bit at that smile. "Here, why don't I walk you down to the pokemon center, and you can get some help for your little pal, there, eh?"

Dixie bit his bottom lip. "But," he said. "But what'll I do after that…?"

"Well, Dixie," said Stanislaus, helping Dixie to his feet. "Have you ever considered joining Team Rocket?"

_**A/N:** I have to say, writing flashbacks is probably my favourite thing. If you guys are sick of these or hate them, please feel free to speak up so I don't keep torturing you with them._

_A new picture is up--this time of Stanislaus. Can be checked out from my profile, as is my usual style._


	58. Mahogany Town

Mahogany Town was so tiny that it could barely be called a town at all. If pressed for a way to call it, Dixie would have chosen 'village', but even that gave the little place too much credit. As they approached it, a pokemon center and a gym were immediately visible, but little else of interest was. A wide path split the tiny settlement in twain, and a smaller path led away from it, into the wilderness to the north. Quenelle stopped in the middle of the tiny town, and Arden dismounted before turning to help Dixie down. Prometheus clung to his trainer's shoulder, whimpering and tugging at his hair.

"Gah—Prometheus, knock that off," said Arden, swatting him in the nose.

"Aw, poor little guy," said Gaius, rubbing Prometheus' head with one enormous hand. "He looks anxious. Maybe you should put him back in his ball, eh?"

"Yeah," said Arden, holding up the pokeball. Squealing his objections, Prometheus disappeared with a flash.

"Take care," said Gaius, waving to the two boys as he urged Quenelle onwards. Unlike the gentle walking pace he had taken before, this time the tauros broke straight into a run. Arden and Dixie watched the pair thunder away, down the path, until they were gone from sight.

"So," Arden said, turning to the Rocket grunt. "Where does your friend live?"

"Uh," said Dixie, looking around. He saw a small house to one side of the path, with a stantler lurking beside it. The pokemon retreated slowly around the wall and out of sight. Dixie motion to the house. "I think that's the one."

Arden nodded and they started toward it. Dixie turned the knob on the door and found it unlocked. Opening the door, he saw the room inside was dark. Arden peered into the shadows. "Doesn't look like anyone's home," he said, frowning. "Weird to leave the door unlocked."

He took a step inside and Dixie followed him as, behind them, the stantler silently moved into the door way. The lights flickered on as Stanislaus appeared from a descending stairway in the floor ahead of them. He smiled, and suddenly Arden had the same inexplicable feeling that Prometheus had had—the feeling that something was terribly wrong. Dixie closed the door behind them as Adalhelm skulked into the room, head low, sharp eyes focused on Arden. Arden glanced around nervously and started toward the door, "I'll just, uh, wait outside—maybe get some training done…"

Dixie caught his shoulder and held it firmly. "I don't think that's a good idea," he said. Behind him, Adalhelm dug at the ground with one hoof.

Arden gulped hard; his throat was dry and all sorts of warning bells were going off inside his head. "Yeah, okay," he said quietly. "What… what is this?"

Dixie cleared his throat and glanced at Stanislaus. "I believe," he said to Arden. "That it would be in your best interest to join Team Rocket."

"I—I don't want to join Team Rocket, though," Arden said.

"We think you ought to reconsider that," said Stanislaus as Adalhelm lowered his head. Arden looked up at Dixie, terrified.

"Dixie," he said pleadingly. "This… I thought we—I thought we were… friends."

He turned his face away. "I'm sorry Arden, but this is how it's going to be," he said. "There's no two ways about this. You're joining Team Rocket…"

"But I don't want to be evil!" said Arden, pulling hard away from Dixie. He broke out of the older boy's grasp. "I don't want to!"

"Adalhelm!" barked Stanislaus, hunching his shoulders. The stantler sprung forward at Arden, like a hungry attack dog.

Arden pulled the whip from the back of his belt quickly, and cracked it in front of him, lashing the attacking pokemon across the face. Adalhelm growled and fell back for a moment and, in the small amount of time he gained, Arden threw out a pokeball. "Go, Cruelty!"

"Cha!" yelled the raichu, appearing before Adalhelm.

Arden cracked his whip. "Thunderbolt!"

"Raicha!" shouted Cruelty his cheeks buzzing with electricity. But Adalhelm was on him in a moment, knocking him back. Narrowing his eyes and gritting his teeth, Cruelty pulled back his arm and punched the stantler in the face, knocking the enemy pokemon off balance.

Stanislaus growled and rushed forward toward Arden. The younger boy spun around toward him, cracking his whip again. The lash struck his face, cutting him and, with a yell, he grabbed his face in his hands. "Stanislaus!" cried Dixie, concerned. Arden turned and ran toward the door, but Dixie threw out two pokeballs ahead of him. "Bruno! Nathair!"

The pokemon appeared before Arden, causing him to skid to such a violent stop that he lost his balance and fell down. "Arrrbok!" hissed Nathair, arching up over the boy.

Arden shook, wide eyed with terror and confusion. Behind him, the stantler and the raichu were locked in a violent tussle and Stanislaus was screaming and cursing about the deep cut on his pretty face. He couldn't think clearly—every thing was loud and confused. Pulling pokeballs from his belt, he threw them in all directions with abandon. "Save me!" he shouted to the pokemon. "Save me!"

Thief leapt immediately to the aid of Cruelty, who was on the ground having his face smashed beneath Adalhelm's hooves. Gentry launched immediately to the attack against Nathair, aided by Fang, as Prometheus scampered frantically to and fro, before leaping up on Arden and hiding his face in the trainer's jacket. Bruno made to swipe at Arden, but Gimpy caught him with a powerful waterpulse before he could touch the boy. Grabbing Prometheus up in his arms, Arden made another break for the door in the general chaos. Fang charged ahead of him, breaking the door down. As Arden hit the threshold, Dixie grabbed hold of his arm.

"Let go of me!" he yelled. "Gentry! Poison sting!"

"Niido!" shouted Gentry, hunching over and firing a series of sharp pins at the Rocket grunt. Dixie withdrew his hand quickly and shielded his face, allowing Arden to dash away, out into the open.

Recalling all of his pokemon except the crobat, Arden wrapped his arms around Fang. "Fly!" he told the pokemon, breathing hard. "I don't care where!"

"Croooobat!" said Fang, rising swiftly into the air.

On the ground, Dixie could only watch him go. He turned toward the building, where Stanislaus was cussing violently and smashing furniture in his anger, as Adalhelm acted similarly. "Damn it!" growled Stanislaus, kicking a table over. "Damn it! My face! That little bastard."

Dixie approached him with concern. "Stanislaus—your face," he said, putting his hand on the older man's shoulder gently. "Here, let me see."

Stanislaus backhanded him swiftly across the face. With a small yelp of pain, Dixie withdrew. "Get away from me," growled Stanislaus. Blood was running down his face and clotting in his hair; he'd been cut around one eye pretty badly. "Get out of here. Go back to your post in Kanto."

"Stanislaus…"

"I said go!" shouted Stanislaus, smacking Dixie's face again. He turned and started for the stairs. "Adalhelm!"

"Stantler!" barked Adalhelm, trotting along beside his trainer. They disappeared down below, and Dixie was left standing there with Nathair and Bruno, his cut lip bleeding anew. Behind him, his pokemon exchanged a knowing look.

Stiffly, Dixie turned towards them. "We should get back to Saffron," he said quietly. Nathair rubbed his snout against his trainer's hand. Dixie smiled and looked down at him. "No, no. It's all right. I'm past all that; it rolls off me like water off a psyduck's back."

Of course, that wasn't strictly true.


	59. Dixie's Flashback II

Dixie was never quite sure if he loved Stanislaus more than he was afraid of him. To begin with, it was hard to separate the feelings from one another. Here was this man not much older than himself, and yet so full of ruthless vigor and ambition. Those dark blue eyes of his were cutting, and when he looked at Dixie it made his knees go weak and all he could do was tremble. Is that fear, or is it love?

With Stanislaus, they were pretty much the same.

Dixie and Stanislaus worked together a lot of the time. Stanislaus arranged it to be that way. Dixie had no objections to it; he was fascinated by Stanislaus. However, for weeks he barely spoke to the other man. He wanted to, but every time Stanislaus looked at him, his heart began to pound and his throat locked up. He'd watch Stanislaus when he wasn't looking—he'd watch for a long time, trying to get up the courage to start a conversation with him. "St-stanislaus," he'd begin hesitantly.

Stanislaus would look at him with those dark eyes. "Hm?" he'd ask. "Did you say something?"

And Dixie could only shake his head and turn away.

This went on for some time until, one day, Dixie managed to ask him, very meekly, "Why don't you like being called Wolf?"

Stanislaus looked at him, and Dixie shrank back, suddenly regretting having said anything at all. "It's a stupid name," said Stanislaus, turning away again. "I mean, it's not _even_ a name."

"Oh," said Dixie. "That's… too bad."

"You don't ever feel that about your name?" asked Stanislaus, glancing at him.

Dixie frowned and put one hand to his chin. "Well," he said, at length. "I think I'd feel much more ridiculous being called DuPont. But Stanislaus is a nice name. I can see why you prefer it. It… it suits you."

Stanislaus smiled and Dixie felt his heart flutter. "Nice of you to say," he said. Dixie blushed and, with a slight shrug, looked down.

Talking to him was easier after that—though it would be folly to say it was ever "easy" to speak to Stanislaus. He was a hard man to read; he said little without prompting, rarely showed his emotions on his face, and almost never said a thing about how he felt. Dixie didn't realize for quite a time that Stanislaus was fond of him at all.

As usual, they were working together. On this occasion, they were searching for a rare bird pokemon that was supposed to have a roost on victory road. When they reached the place, Dixie took a long look around, amazed at the scenery. Rocky cliffs surrounded them as they walked along a narrow meadow, just beyond a clear blue lake. "I never thought I'd see Victory Road," said Dixie, kneeling down in a patch of grass with Bruno at his back. "It's amazing."

"It's probably all the more amazing if one comes here on their way to the Pokemon League," said Stanislaus, putting his hands on his hips. Beside him, his raticate nodded in agreement.

"Stanislaus," said Dixie, looking up. "Did you ever collect any badges? Was being a Pokemon League Champion your dream, too?"

He shook his head. "No, it never was," he said. "I've been with Team Rocket all my life. No badges. No need for championships."

"Then what was your dream?"

Stanislaus looked at him slightly surprised. "Eh? My… dream?"

"I'm—I'm sorry if it's out of line," said Dixie quickly, lowering his face. "I just—I figured that, at one time, there had to have been something more you wanted out of life."

Stanislaus blinked a couple times before turning his face toward the clear blue sky. "No," he said. "This… This is all I wanted. What else should I want? I wanted to train pokemon, and I get to. I get to battle without having to jump through the arbitrary loops of some league. It was a little lonely, at one time but… It's not anymore." He smiled at Dixie but the other boy didn't see.

Bruno wrapped his arms around Dixie's neck as the Rocket grunt stood. "So," he said, swatting the dirt from his suit. "What's this pokemon we're looking for again? Molton?"

"Moltres," corrected Stanislaus.

"What's it like?" Dixie asked.

"It's a bird—a really rare, powerful bird pokemon," he answered. "That's all I know."

Dixie frowned. "A bird," he said. "Maybe we should check the cliffs, then?"

Stanislaus looked up at the cliffs. "Sounds like an awful lot of work," he said. "But you may be right." He smiled at the younger boy, prompting another blush.

Side by side, they started toward the wall of the little canyon. The pair looked up at the sheer cliff, unsure of where to start. Riding on Dixie's back, Bruno craned his neck around. "Sand?" he mumbled, looking at a small dent high up in the rocks. The sandshrew tilted his head and screwed up his eyes. After a moment, he nipped at Dixie's ear. "Sandshrew!"

"Huh?" Dixie said, turning to look. "Up there…?"

Stanislaus looked as well. "Looks like there's a cave up there… Good job, Brun." He looked to Dixie. "Let's start climbing."

Dixie nodded, and they got to it. It was difficult and tiring, but at last they managed to reach the cave. Aided by Bruno, Dixie got there first, and helped to pull Stanislaus and Orla up into the cave. They rested a while by the mouth, looking around at what they could see from there. A tunnel extended inwards, the end of which could not be seen, but down below the cave the land spread out like a vibrant oil painting.

"It's beautiful," said Dixie, holding Bruno against his chest.

"Yes," agreed Stanislaus. "But I suppose I would rate it only the second or third most beautiful thing I've ever seen…"

There was a shuffling from deeper inside the cave and they both turned their faces to the darkness as their pokemon bristled. "Sounds like something's back there," said Dixie.

"Could be Moltres, or some other strong pokemon," Stanislaus said, getting to his feet. "Let's move. Quietly." Dixie nodded and stood as well, and they slowly made their way toward the sound. The tunnel was warm and stuffy, and Dixie could feel himself sweating beneath his uniform.

"It's so uncomfortable in here," he mumbled. "This really isn't suited to our all-black jumpsuits…"

"You could strip down to your boxers," Stanislaus said. "But you'd look pretty silly and neither Moltres nor I would respect you much."

"What's that light?" said Dixie as a glow became visible at the tunnel's end.

Stanislaus lowered his head. "Moltres," he said quietly. "Okay, Dixie, get on that side. You and Bruno attack it from the left side while Orla and I get the right."

The younger boy nodded as they crept along the passage walls. Soon, the pokemon they were hunting became visible, by a red and yellow light he cast himself. He was a great, large beast with fiery wings and a fiery crest, all folded in upon himself in slumber. Both Rocket grunts breathed sharply at the sight of him. "Amazing," said Dixie, and Bruno nodded. Stanislaus motioned for him to go around the side and he did. Silently, the older Rocket grunt counted down on his fingers from three and then, they jumped to the attack.

The two pokemon lunged at Moltres and he opened his eyes and threw out his wings with a deafening screech, throwing Bruno and Orla back. Bruno smashed hard into Dixie, knocking him against the wall of the cave, as Stanislaus caught Orla in the air. Moltres screeched again and the flames on his body roared, burning brighter than before. He flapped his wings and wheeled on Stanislaus.

"Hyperfang!" he shouted to Orla. She leapt out in front of him, sinking her teeth into Moltres' neck. With a powerful shake, he threw her off and continued toward her momentarily defenseless trainer.

"Stanislaus!" shouted Dixie, running toward him. "Bruno, quick—scratch!"

The sandshrew threw himself forward. "Sand!" he cried, raking Moltres' wing with his little claws. Irritated, Moltres spun around, glaring daggers. Dixie trembled and took a step back as the color drained from his face and his mouth went dry. "B-bruno, dig!"

Bruno tried to dig but Moltres caught him with one wing, slamming him down and rendering him unconscious. His rage at its peak, Moltres spun toward the trainer and breathed in deep. Trembling, Dixie fumbled for Nathair's pokeball. "Dixie, get down!" cried Stanislaus, lunging forward. As a flame burst free of the legendary fire bird's mouth, Stanislaus knocked Dixie out of its path, taking the worst of the attack himself. He screamed as it burned his clothes and left his back red and blistered. Moltres screeched again, and fled, out of the cave, but neither of them cared. They were just glad it was gone.

"You protected me," said Dixie, stunned. Stanislaus was still laying on top of him, guarding him from harm. "Are you alright?"

Stanislaus squeezed his eyes shut. "It burns," he said.

Carefully, Dixie scooted out from underneath the older boy, and went to rifling around in his pack. At length, he produced a burn heal from his bag. "It's for pokemon," he said. "But it might help you."

He sprayed it onto Stanislaus' exposed back. Stanislaus shivered and let out a deep breath. "Is that any better?" Dixie asked.

"Yes," said Stanislaus, nodding. "The pain's gone now…"

"What were you thinking, throwing yourself into the fire?" said Dixie. "You… you didn't have to do that on my account."

"I wanted to do it," said Stanislaus. He turned his eyes on Dixie, and it was the younger Rocket's turn to shiver. "I… love you."

In Stanislaus' mouth, the word sounded choked and uncomfortable, as if he'd never used it before in his life. Dixie blinked as the color drained out of his face before rushing back into it. Stanislaus leaned forward toward him, until first their noses were touching, then their lips. He kissed him roughly, like someone who didn't know how to be gentle; someone who was afraid to be gentle. Closing his eyes, Dixie returned the kiss, with the tenderness of someone desperate to be loved. Stanislaus wrapped his arms around Dixie's back, as they lay down together on the stone floor, Dixie making sure to keep his hands away from the older Rocket grunt's injured back.

And so they were lovers, with all the joys and heartaches that entailed.


	60. Fuchsia City IV

The first thing Arden did when he landed in Kanto was to check his pokemon. They were fine, save for Cruelty, who had taken a brutal beating from Adalhelm. The raichu's nose had been broken and one of his cheekbones had been crushed. Arden rushed him to the nearest pokemon center to be treated, along with the rest of them.

"It's quite an injury," the nurse told him, after she'd run his pokemon through the machine. She handed him back his pokemon in their balls.

"Is he going to be alright?" asked Arden. "Will… will he still be able to fight?"

She nodded. "Yes, but the damage was… Well, that sort of thing, it's irreversible. He's going to look like that forever, probably," she said. "And one of his cheeks was damaged, so I don't think your raichu will be able to generate more than half of his usual electricity."

"Only half…?" said Arden, holding Cruelty's pokeball in his hands.

"With so much damage to his head," the nurse told him. "It's a wonder he's still alive, much less that he'll be able to go on battling. What happened?"

"Team Rocket," said Arden, and the nurse's gaze softened.

"I see. Well, you be careful," she said. "Take care."

Arden nodded and headed for the door. He emerged into the salty air of Fuchsia City, feeling frightened and alone. Above him, the sun was high in the cloudless sky, warming the earth dutifully. He looked up into that sky, but could find no joy in it. Sighing, he sat down on a short ledge, letting his feet dangle over, and rolled a pokeball between his hands. "Dixie," he muttered. "What a snake… All that time he was nice to me—was that the only reason?"

Tears of anger and hurt were welling up in his eyes, but he pushed them back. Sniffing, he slid down from the ledge, landing in the soft sand beneath. "I hate him," he yelled, kicking a shell into the side of a large rock. "I hate him! And I don't need him—I can be a trainer just fine without his help! Just fine!"

He ground his teeth together and punched at the side of a rising cliff. "Just fine," he repeated again, softly. "I didn't need his help to begin with."

The Fuchsia gym loomed over him, up on the rocks. Fuming, he turned his gaze on it. Arden furrowed his brow and scrambled up the ledges toward it, his veins burning and his heart aflame with anger. He entered the pokemon gym violently, and Koga looked up, startled.

"Hey, what did my door ever do to you?" he said, frowning as Arden made his way toward him, navigating the invisible walls with clenched teeth.

"Shut up! It did plenty!" shouted Arden. The gym leader faltered. "I want a rematch!"

"Okay," said Koga. "But, you do realize that the anger isn't necessary to get a rematch, correct? I'll battle you even if you come in here calmly like a sensible human being."

"I'm not a sensible human being!" Arden yelled. "—Wait, no! Forget that—I mean I am, but I'm… Shut up!"

"Fine then," said Koga. "We will battle—Weezing!"

"Go, Gimpy!" Arden yelled, tossing out the wartortle's pokeball.

"Ha! That pokemon's too slow and weak," Koga said as their pokemon appeared from their balls. "It's no match for my fast and poisonous ninja pokemon!"

"What on _earth _qualifies weezing as a ninja in any way?!" demanded Arden, frustrated. "Gimp—waterpulse!"

"Tortle!" yelled Gimpy, hunching over. He fired a blast of water from his mouth which rocketed toward the enemy weezing. At the last minute, however, the opponent's pokemon dodged to the side, allowing the attack to pass by harmlessly. "War!"

"Smog!"

"Weeez!" huffed the enemy pokemon, expelling a thick gas from the pores in his body. Gimpy covered his nose and staggered back a few paces, his body shuddering.

Arden gritted his teeth. "Poisoned," he muttered, narrowing his eyes. "Use surf, Gimpy!"

The wartortle swayed, trying to shake his head clear of the fast-acting toxin. "Tor… tortle!" he said, somewhat weakly. He could feel his trainer's unfocused rage bubbling, however, and it gave him the strength to stand; he didn't want to be on the receiving end of that anger. Summoning his strength, he formed a wave beneath his feet. "War-tort-tle!"

The weezing grimaced as the enormous wave crashed down on him. The pokemon gasped and struggled as the wave receded, back into nothingness, trying to catch his breath and sputtering. Arden stuck out his chest and raised on fist. "Not very ninja," he said. "Unless getting pulverized by the tide is a secret ninja technique that only stupid gym leaders in stupid gyms with stupid invisible walls know."

Koga frowned. "I'm not stupid and neither are my invisible walls," he said, sounding somewhat wounded. "Do you know how hard it is to make an invisible wall? I mean, they're never really all the way invisible. It takes a lot of work to make walls that can be invisible enough to be tricky!"

"It's stupid!" yelled Arden. "Why don't you just use regular walls?!"

"I'm a ninja!"

"You're a grown man!" said Arden. "It's ridiculous!"

"I am a ninja!" said Koga, stamping his foot. "Ninja, ninja, ninja! Weezing—use sludge!"

"Weeeez!" shouted the pokemon, firing thick black grime from its smaller mouth.

The poisonous ooze caught Gimpy in the face, blinding him. Flailing his tail, Gimpy staggered around rubbing at his face and crying out. "Get a hold of yourself!" Arden yelled. "It's just a little muck—ignore it! Use bite!"

Gimpy whined and continued to rub at his eyes. Arden clenched his teeth and cracked his whip at the pokemon. "Bite!"

Startled, the wartortle tried to lunge forward, but his deformed foot caught on the ground and he fell onto his face. Arden smacked his forehead with one palm. "Useless," he muttered.

"Oh-ho-ho," said Koga, narrowing his eyes. "It looks like your pokemon could use more training!"

"And it looks like _your _pokemon is a bag of farts!"

"N-no it doesn't!" objected Koga, wrapping his arms around his weezing. "You're just jealous!"

"Jealous? Of what? Some man-child that keeps saying he's a ninja and his ugly gas pokemon?" said Arden waving his hands. "Oh, yes—I am_ so_ jealous. Oh, please, Mr. Ninja, won't you teach me to be as cool as you? Clearly you are awesome, and not at all creepy or completely retarded!"

Koga frowned. "Man-child?" he said. "Hey, you can't talk to me that way. I am a—"

"Yes. A ninja. You've said that," Arden told him flatly. "But guess what? I'm pissed off. I'm angrier than I've ever been in my entire life and, you know what? I just don't care anymore. I. Don't. Care."

"Actually," mumbled Koga. "I was going to say that I'm a gym leader…"

"I don't care!" yelled Arden. "Gimpy! Surf! And I swear, if you don't faint it this time, I'm going to cut off your ears, tie a rock to you, and then toss you in the ocean!"

"Toortle," moaned Gimpy, grabbing his ears gingerly with his claws. He had managed to free his eyes of the sludge. With a deep breath, he began to form a wave beneath his feet. The water gathered, surging up, higher than he'd ever before managed. Koga staggered back, clutching his weezing against his chest.

"Oh my," he mumbled. "That's a… that's a big one…"

The wave crashed down, knocking the weezing out of Koga's arms and smacking them both hard against one of the invisible walls. Gimpy landed on the ground, tripping a little bit, as the wave receded. Koga groaned and rubbed his head as, beside him, his weezing moaned and slipped into unconsciousness. Arden pumped one fist into the air. "Exactly!" he yelled. "Exactly that, Gimp! Now I'll let you live another day!"

"Toooortle," moaned Gimpy, flattening his ears.

Koga withdrew his pokemon, frowning. "Now my clothes are all damp," he muttered. "Man, I'm going to have to go home and change. And I just know this is going to mold…"

"Hey!" said Arden. "Stop talking about your stupid laundry problem and send out your next pokemon!"

"That's it. You beat me, or whatever," said Koga, waving the boy's shouting away. "I have your badge somewhere… If I can find it… It'll probably be wet, though."

Arden crossed his arms. "Well that's no good," he said. "I'm still angry as all hell."

"War!" yelped Gimpy as he began to flow. Arden's eyes widened as he turned toward the pokemon.

"Gimpy! You're evolving!" he said.

The light grew larger and larger and then, very suddenly, died away. When the glow faded, it revealed a large and frowning blastoise. "Blaaastoise," said Gimpy, looking down at his massive paws.

"Why are you making that face?!" said Arden, kicking him in the leg. "Evolving makes you stronger!"

"Blastoise," Gimpy said, flattening his little ears.

"Ah!" said Koga, holding up a badge. "Here! Found it. Oi, kid, come here and get this."

Arden walked up to him and held up his hand. Koga placed the badge in the boy's outstretched hand. "Having this badge makes your pokemon stronger," he told him.

"How?"

"Also," said Koga. "Your pokemon will be able to use surf outside of battle."

"Why couldn't they before?"

"What?"

"Surf?" Arden said, crossing his arms. "I mean, that's just swimming, right? What was stopping them from surfing outside of battle before?"

Koga sighed. "Look," he said. "I don't make the rules. I just hand out the badges and build the invisible walls, okay?"

_**A/N:**__ Sorry for how long this took! It was a combination of college and the fact that I spent this week watching Cardcaptor Sakura during the vast majority of my free time. Anyway, I'm a little flabbergasted when I think about how far I've come in this story. Sixty chapters—and most of them over this summer. Thank you all for reading, as usual; I'm glad you could follow along on this journey with me. You guys are love._

_I've been thinking about doing a spin-off story about Gaius' journey to become the pokemon trainer he is in this story, but I'm not sure yet. Thoughts, anyone?_


	61. Route 44

Dixie trudged along, hands in his pockets, dragging his feet. The sun was sinking beyond the mountains, turning the sky a dazzling orange. He had tried to return to Kanto the way he'd came but, remembered the water which blocked the path, was forced to continue along the path, toward a destination that was so uncertain. His head and his heart felt heavy, as if they'd both been filled with wet sand. Beside him trotted Zahur to keep him company, but it didn't really help.

"I would've liked to have gone to see those dancers with him," Dixie mumbled to his chikorita. "That would've been nice…"

He paused in the road and turned his face back the way he had come. "Chiiiko?" asked Zahur, looking up at him.

"I wonder if…" said Dixie. "I wonder if Stanislaus is alright… We should—we should go back, maybe. I know he told me to go, but…" He bit his lip gently, staring off down the path. "He was just mad, then. I'm sure he'd be happy if I came back to check on him. I'm sure… He doesn't—he doesn't mean it when he yells like that…"

"Chiiko," said Zahur quietly. Placing one tiny paw on Dixie's foot, he looked up at the young man.

Dixie knelt and picked him up. "What is it?" he asked. "Are you tired?"

The chikorita frowned and shook his little head. "Chikaa."

"What's wrong then?" asked Dixie. Zahur opened his tiny mouth to respond, but closed it again without saying a word. The leaf on his head perked up as he looked around. Frowning, Dixie looked around as well, listening hard. He could faintly hear a boisterous voice singing in the distance.

"_Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda_," the voice sung, as it drew closer. "_You'll come waltzing Matilda with me…_"

Dixie blinked and turned his face toward the noise. "That's not…" he mumbled, fading off as a swaggering figure mounted on a tauros became visible down the path. "…Gaius."

His stomach clenched up. Gaius hadn't spotted him yet. Dixie didn't know where Arden had gone after he'd gotten away from Mahogany; if his first stop was to find his older brother and tell him what had happened, it would've been very bad news for him, indeed. It would've been a smart move… However, Dixie didn't feel convinced it would've been Arden's first thought to do so. He froze up, trying to decide whether it would be better to take a chance that Arden hadn't gone to see Gaius, and that maybe he could get help from the older boy getting across the water, or whether it'd be best to hide. All the while, Gaius and his pokemon mount drew nearer.

"_Up rode the squatter mounted on his rapidash_," sang Gaius. Quenelle snorted and tossed his head, prompting his trainer to cut short his song. "Eh? What's that now…?"

His gaze locked on Dixie, and the Rocket felt his gut twisting again. For a moment, they stared at each other, and then Gaius smiled. "Dixie!" he said. "That's right, isn't it? It is Dixie, right?"

Dixie nodded. "Y-yes, that's right."

Gaius looked around. "Where's baby brother?" he asked.

"Ah, I was visiting an old friend and it took a while," Dixie said. "He decided to go on ahead of me."

Gaius smiled. "That sounds like him," he said, and Dixie's stomach unknotted itself. "So, what're you doing hanging out here at dark? Dangerous pokemon come out at night you know."

"Well, truth be told, I forgot that I didn't have any pokemon that could get me across those lakes and back to Ecruteak," he said. "I decided to see if I could get back to Kanto going this way."

"Oh, yeah—you can," said Gaius. "It curves up through Blackthorne and then lets down around New Bark. 'Course, it's an awful long way if you're walking… Would you like a ride there?"

Holding up his hands, Dixie smiled meekly. "I don't want to be a bother," he said.

"Nah, no bother," said Gaius, leaning down and extending a hand to the Rocket grunt. "I've been meaning to get down to New Bark town, anyway, to go see the professor there. He gave me a cyndaquil a long time ago, when I was starting out as a trainer, and I like to keep in touch."

"I'd really rather not burden you," said Dixie, trying to hide his nervousness at the prospect of Gaius finding out he'd broken into the New Bark Town lab. "Th-thank you, though."

"I insist," Gaius said, narrowing his eyes. "It's rude to keep refusing, kiddo."

Dixie swallowed hard. "R-right," he said. Returning Zahur to his pokeball, Dixie scrambled up onto Quenelle's back, behind Gaius, with plenty of help from the older boy. Uncomfortably, Dixie shifted his weight around on the pokemon's back. "It's all slumped… how do you sit back here?"

"Hold on tight," Gaius said. "We're gonna go faster than we did over the water earlier."

"Faster…?" said Dixie, grabbing hold of Gaius' coat. "How much faster…?"

"Taur-aur-auros," said Quenelle, lurching into a trot. Dixie yelped and slid sideways, almost falling off the tauros completely. Gaius caught him and, urging Quenelle into a stop, pulled him back up.

"We were barely moving at all," Gaius said, frowning. "You can't keep your balance at all, can you?"

"I'm not used to riding a pokemon," Dixie said, apologetically.

"Here, climb in front of me," Gaius said. He pulled Dixie over his leg, sliding himself back. "If you're in front of me I can keep you from falling off Quen easier."

"But… don't you need to be up here to steer him?" asked Dixie as he settled himself in front of Gaius.

"He's a pokemon, not a motorcycle," said Gaius flatly. "Quen knows where we're going. Right, Quen?"

"Aur-aur-aur!"

The tauros started off again, and Dixie jerked to one side again, but Gaius put his muscular arms around him and kept him from falling. Dixie blushed and lowered his head. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm… not very good at this."

"I'll say. That's alright though," said Gaius. "I've been riding Quen since I was a little kid. Arden and I would ride him with our mom out to the coast."

"Taur-aur-auros!" said Quenelle, tossing his head happily.

"Why does he talk like that?" Dixie asked. "Always with the 'ar-ar-ar' thing?"

"Quen's got a bit of a stutter," said Gaius. "But he gets his point across just fine. He was tellin' me earlier, y'know, he was tellin' me about goin' 'round Kanto with baby brother."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," said Gaius, leaning forward to rub Quenelle's neck. "He told me some interesting things. 'Bout you and baby brother…"

"O-oh?"

"Yeah. Some people don't think of tauros as being a very smart pokemon, but I've found that, at least in Quen's case, they're very perceptive. Especially when it comes to people," said Gaius. He leaned his face down so that his chin rested on Dixie's shoulder, and his lips were right next to Dixie's ear. With Gaius hunched around him and the massive tauros beneath him, Dixie suddenly felt very, very small. "Arden's just a kid, you know…"

"It… wasn't like that."

"Right," said Gaius, pulling back slightly. "Y'know, if you break Arden's heart, I'm gonna break your spine."

Dixie glanced down at Gaius' huge arm around his waist. It looked like he could do it, too—like he could snap Dixie straight in half right there without missing a beat. "I… I don't know what you're talking about," he said. "Arden and I are… friends."

"Friends can break each others hearts, too," said Gaius. "You hurt him, I hurt you ten fold. That's all I'm sayin', here."

"Aur-auros," said Quenelle as he trotted along.

"Quen doesn't think that you just wanted to be friends with baby brother," Gaius said. Dixie slumped his shoulders, and looked at the passing country side.

"Can we stop?" Dixie said weakly. "This bobbing around is starting to make me feel a little bit sick…"

"It's a shame, though," said Gaius, paying him no mind. "Quen—speed up a bit. We're not going to reach New Bark until morning at this pace… Anyway, like I was saying, I was talking to Felicia—"

"I don't recall that being what you were saying…"

"—and she said she liked you," Gaius said. "She said she liked your nose. I can see why; it's very symmetrical."

"C-can we slow down? I'm really beginning to feel sick," said Dixie. "I think I might fall off, too…"

"You're not gonna fall—I've got you, don't worry 'bout it," Gaius said. "I just think it's kinda a silly thing to like 'bout someone, y'know? Their nose? You get in a fight, or trip one day, or stand too close to a door the exact moment someone decides to come through and then… Well, then, if you're lucky, nothing. But most people aren't lucky. Then after that your relationship crumbles 'cause it was based on having an attractive nose."

Dixie leaned forward. "Can we stop?" he asked. "I think I might get sick…"

"Woah, don't lean like that," said Gaius, pulling the Rocket toward himself. "You listening to me at all? I was just saying, it's ways like that that get you landed with a broken nose."

"S-sorry… I'm not… not feeling very well."

"You should go to sleep," Gaius said. "It's good for motion sickness. Don't worry 'bout it—I gotcha. You ain't gonna fall or nothin'."

Dixie leaned against him, closing his eyes, and found that it did help. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"Hey, don't worry about it," said Gaius. "You looked kinda sickly anyway—I shoulda guessed you might get sick riding Quen like this."

"I'm sorry," Dixie said again, because that hadn't been the reason he was apologizing. He drifted quickly into sleep as Gaius held him still upon the now-galloping tauros' back.

"It's still a shame, though," said Gaius softly. "That you're in love with baby brother…"


	62. Seafoam Islands

Arden frowned and scrunched up his nose as he rode over the water on Gimpy's back. It was cold and misty on the ocean, and Gimpy couldn't swim nearly as fast as a normal blastoise. Arden had expected them to reach Cinnabar in short order, using the speed at which his brother's tauros could pass over waves as his reference point. Needless to say, he was gravely disappointed. An island appeared on the water and Arden leaned forward on his pokemon's shell.

"Is that Cinnabar?" he wondered aloud. "It's so small… I don't even see a town.."

Gimpy raised his eyes out of the water. "Blaaastoise."

"Hey!" said Arden, kicking him in the back of the head. "Just focus on swimming faster! Get your head down and stop dallying!"

"Toise," murmured Gimpy, submerging his head once more.

At length, they reached the shore of the little, rocky island. Arden slid from Gimpy's back, onto the gritty sand, shoving his hands in his pockets. "But where is Cinnabar town?" he muttered, looking around at the completely deserted island. There was another isle, not far off, separated by rocks and rough water.

Gimpy frowned. "Blastoise," he said quietly, limping along the shore. He turned his great blue head from side to side slowly before turning back to Arden and holding up his hands. "Oooise!"

"Eh?" said Arden as the pokemon began to pantomime something. "What's that? A book? No? A… A map?"

"Blastoise!"

"You think I should check my map?" asked Arden. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a many-times folded piece of paper which was becoming tattered at the edges. "Let's see… We left from Fuchsia and this is the first place we've stopped…" He turned the map over in his hands. "And then… Ah so we should be… And if that blue stuff is water… …it _is _water, right?"

The blastoise nodded.

"Okay then," said Arden, furrowing his brow. "I really hate maps… Let's see… We should be in… Cinnabar."

"Toise?" said Gimpy, titling his head. He hunched over his trainers shoulder and, with an exasperated sigh, pointed one claw at the map. "Blastoise."

Arden blushed. "Oh," he said. "I must've missed that part." He folded up the map and shoved it, once more, into his back pocket. "Then this island and that island over there—these must be the Seafoam islands."

"Blas," said Gimpy, nodding.

Arden gritted his teeth and wheeled around toward the pokemon. "Don't nod like that! Like you knew it all along!" he said, sharply smacking Gimpy's nose with two fingers.

"Blas!" Gimpy winced and covered his nose with one hand. "Blas blas toise blastoise."

"I guess we need to keep on surfing," said Arden, turning his face toward the ocean. He looked at the sharp rocks jutting up from the depths and the water swirling violently about them. "Can you get through that?"

"Blastoise!" said Gimpy, shaking his head roughly.

Arden frowned. "Then how…?" The boy bit his lip and said, "I guess I could try to fly there on Fang, but if he gets lost there might not be anywhere we can land…"

"Toise!" said the blastoise, poking his trainer in the shoulder and pointing toward a rocky outcropping with one stubby claw. Arden looked, raising his eyebrows.

"A cave?" he said. "Argh! No! Caves are dark and scary! I don't want to go in there…."

"Blastoise," murmured Gimpy, looking at his trainer as if to say, _'but what choice do you have?'_

"No!" said Arden, smacking Gimpy's nose again. "You can't make me go in there! Besides, we don't even know if it lets out somewhere on the other side of those rocks! It could let out underwater for all we know. And then we'd drown!"

Gimpy cocked his head to the side. "Blas-toise?"

Arden sighed. "I just hate caves," he said, rubbing his arm. Slowly, the young trainer made his way toward the entrance and, as he reached its mouth, he shivered. "It's cold in there… This cave must be haunted!"

"Toise?"

"Haunted!" said Arden, wheeling around to the blastoise. "We're going to go in there and it's going to be full of ghosts and bad luck!"

Gimpy stared at him flatly. "Blastoooise," he said. "Blastoise blast."

"Shush! Don't look at me like that!" said Arden, smacking the pokemon's nose again. "There are ghosts everywhere you know. There are…"

With a sigh, Gimpy shook his head and started, slowly, into the cave. Arden grumbled and followed him, hunching his shoulders. The tunnel was dark and chilly, and Arden pulled the collar of his jacket tight about his ears, shuddering. "I get a bad feeling about this place," he said. Gimpy nodded, looking around. Ice coated the walls and ground thinly, and everything was damp. Arden twisted his head around, searching in the darkness. "Do you hear… running water?"

Gimpy nodded. "Blas toise-blast."

"An underground river?" said Arden, squinting into the shadows. "Urgh. I hate water… Why's it always have to be water? It's gonna be all cold and wet—and it sounds like it's really fast, too."

The blastoise nodded as they started toward the sound. "Blastoise," he said.

"Maybe we'll be able to follow the river out of here…"

After a few moments of following the rough and curving path around the icy rocks, they came into sight of the river—and enormous, rushing body of water covered with white froth which crashed loudly around jagged rocks. Arden raised his eyebrows. "It's huge!" he said.

"Toise," agreed Gimpy.

"Well, let's see where it leads, I guess," the boy said, putting his hands on his hips and looking around for an easy path to the water's edge. A rock rolled from beneath one of his feet and he swayed. Gimpy lunged forward and caught him as he fell, pulling him close, but the momentum was too great and they both ended tumbling down the rocks, into the river. Arden gasped along with his pokemon as they were jolted by the icy water. Swiftly, it bore them downstream, sputtering and thrashing about. Gimpy pulled Arden close and tried to battle against the current, but he could not. Arden coughed and jerked about at Gimpy tried to lift him as high out of the water as he could, finally managing to pull the young trainer onto his shoulder. Wrapping his arms tightly around one of the blastoise's cannons, he pressed his face against Gimpy's cheek.

"Th-thank you," he breathed into the pokemon's ear weakly. "You saved me…"

The pokemon smiled faintly, as if he'd been waiting a long time to hear it and, yet, as if he didn't care one way or another if it was ever said. To Gimpy, that was what 'friendship' meant.

They crashed into a large rock which broke through the water. With a grunt, the blastoise turned and, fighting the river's powerful current, he pushed himself to the shore and scrambled up onto it. Arden coughed and sputtered and clung to the pokemon tightly for a few minutes, even after they were free of the water. At length, his grip relaxed and he stood on his own feet.

"I'm completely soaked!" he said, pulling off his jacket. "Gah! I'll bet my map turned to mush, now! Ehnk! And it's cold in here and I'm all wet!" He shivered and rubbed his arms, leaning against Gimpy.

The blastoise flattened his ears and looked down at his trainer sympathetically. "Blas." To Arden, it sounded a lot like a 'sorry'.

"Have I ever told you," said Arden, looking up into his pokemon's eyes. "Just how much I hate Kanto? It's not a small amount of hate."

Gimpy nodded. "Blastoise," he said.

Arden sighed and looked around. As his gaze fell upon a ladder leading upwards through a hole in the roof of the cave, he frowned. "What's a ladder doing in a place like this?" he asked, and Gimpy could only shrug.

They ascended the ladder, Gimpy having quite a bit of trouble between his weight and his twisted and deformed foot. The ladder let out on an icy floor full of rocks, similar to the one they'd left but sans the rushing river. Holes littered the ground, and enormous boulders stood here and there. Arden put his hands on his hips and looked around as Gimpy climbed up after him. "But this won't help," he murmured. "If there's an exit as this level, we won't be able to get down…"

"Blast," panted Gimpy, looking around as well. He leaned against a boulder tiredly. With a creak the boulder rolled forward and Gimpy fell onto his shell. "Oise!"

"It moved because you're fat," said Arden flatly.

Awkwardly, the blastoise got to his feet. "Blas-toise!" he objected.

"It did, too," said Arden, putting one hand on the boulder and leaning his weight against it. "See? Doesn't budge when I touch it."

Gimpy grunted and tapped the boulder, sending it rolling away, down a hole. With a yelp, Arden fell to the ground. "Hey!" he said, standing up. "I was leaning on that!"

Gimpy crossed his arms and stuck out his broad tongue. "Blaaaas."

Arden scowled and turned away. "Those holes are really dangerous," he said. "I didn't even know that one was there. We'll have to be careful…"

"Blastoise…"

The young trainer peered over the edge of the hole, into the shady floor below them. The boulder Gimpy had knocked down had landed in the river and was slowing the water somewhat. Arden frowned and bit his lip, watching it. "Hey," he said slowly. "If we could knock some more boulders down into the river, we might be able to make it calm. Then we could use that like a big ol' highway outta here."

"Blast?" said Gimpy.

"Hey! Get to it!" said Arden, smacking him in the nose again. "Come on! Start using that big fat body of yours and pushing rocks down the holes!"

Grumbling to himself, the pokemon complied. He went to the nearest boulder and pressed against it. It rolled easily under the blastoise's weight. As Arden watched, Gimpy limped to each of the boulders within sight and knocked them down through the holes. As they landed in the river bellow, he could hear a faint splashing sound. Arden knelt down next to one of the gaps in the rock where he could see the lower level and looked at the now-calmed river. "Perfect!" he said. "I am so _smart_! Yeah, I'm clever as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!"

With a sigh, Gimpy shook his head and started back toward the ladder. "Blastoise," he mumbled. "Blas blas blas."

"That's complete gibberish to me, and I've told you that," said Arden, following him. "You need to learn to speak words. I mean, you're obviously capable of speech if you can say 'blastoise' and 'wartortle' and 'squirtle'… Eh—come to think of it, if you could say those other ones before, why can't you say them now?"

"Blas," said Gimpy, climbing down the ladder with a shrug.

"I still feel like I'm the only one in the whole world who's not in on the joke," Arden said, following him. "Other trainers seem to understand their pokemon fine. I've seen Gaius have whole conversations with Quen. It's like they've all got some secret language and they never bothered to tell me what it was!"

With a soft thud, he set his feet on the rocks below and turned his face toward the still river. "It's cold in here," he said. "When we get outside, I'm going to have to hang my pants up to dry; they're killing me."

Gimpy slid into the water and Arden climbed mutely onto his back. Slowly, the great blue pokemon started off as his trainer shivered violently. If Arden had looked up then he would've seen, on a high crag far above them, a great and beautiful bird pokemon with flowing blue feathers which shone like crystals, watching them with intelligent and graceful eyes.

But he didn't look up.

Silently, they rode on.


	63. Veridian City II

Dixie was dreaming. He was dreaming that he was being carried upwards, upwards, over a precipice and into a memory. He was dreaming of thinking of a time that wasn't very long ago. He was dreaming of remembering a weekend he'd spent with the man he loved in a little cottage in the mountains. It was a happy memory. It was a happy dream.

Dixie smiled and hoped that he could stay there in that weekend forever. When he died, he thought, that would be his heaven.

Someone was setting him down, and covering him up against the dewy morning cold. He could hear them saying something to him, murmuring softly. Far away, beyond the world of sleep, someone was touching him softly on the nose and saying something, but the words were all garbled and, as he slipped into another dream, Dixie couldn't grasp any meaning in them at all.

At length, Dixie opened his eyes and found himself alone in long, lush green grass, wrapped up in Gaius' long, black jacket. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and looked around. "Gaius?" he said sleepily, but there was no sign of the older boy or his tauros. He was alone in the grass just west of Viridian city.

Yawning, Dixie stood and picked the coat up off the ground. "That was nice of him," he murmured, smiling faintly. He pulled it around his shoulders, noting how heavy and stiff it was. "Some of his things must be in the pockets still… I hope he didn't forget anything he needs…"

The young Rocket grunt stuck his hands into the pockets of Gaius' coat, feeling around. He found an ornate pocket watch with a cracked face in one, and a lighter which looked like it might've belonged to a woman, once, in another. There was an ultraball which had been cracked and which no longer stayed closed, and there was a locket with a broken clasp which housed a picture of a younger Arden and which Dixie wondered whether he could fix. And, in the inside breast pocket of the jacket, there was a crisp piece of paper, neatly folded into sixths. Dixie took it and turned it over in his hands before unfolding it. A short letter had been scrawled within in sharp, neat letters which swayed slightly to the right, like long grass in a gentle breeze. At the top of the letter, his name had been written in a myriad of ways and then crossed out, as if the writer couldn't decide just how 'Dixie' must be spelt. Dixie smiled, and read the letter to himself.

_Dicksey,_

_Sorry to just leave you here, but we've both got things to do, I'm sure, and I figured that there aren't any strong wild pokemon around here and you'd probably be alright. I thought you might get cold, so I left you my coat, obviously, but next time I see you I want it back so try to keep it safe, please. I know you robbed Elm's laboratory, and that you did it for Felicia. I can't be mad at you for that. If you see Arden, and I'm sure you will, you watch out for him, okay? I won't forgive you if you ever let anything happen to my baby brother._

_Love,_

_Gaius_

_PS. I left some stuff in my pockets. Sorry. Be careful with it, because I want it back in the same condition it's all in now. Except for the locket. You can keep the locket, because I've got another one now. Take care of it._

Dixie folded up the letter and put it back in the coat's pocket, still smiling. "He's a good guy," he said quietly. "It's… it's too bad what he's going to do to me when he finds out about Mahogany. It's too bad… that he and I couldn't be friends…"

He started toward the town, the coat still wrapped around his shoulders. As he entered Viridian, a group of Rockets standing outside of the gym caught his attention and he made his way for them, hailing one whose name he knew. The man looked up and, with a wave, began jogging toward him. "Hey, Dixie!" he said as he got closer. "Stanislaus was looking for you!"

"Stanislaus was here?"

The other Rocket shook his head. "No, no," he said. "He was calling around, looking for you. He said if we saw you to tell you to meet him up in Cerulean… Seemed sort of urgent about it."

"Cerulean," said Dixie softly, turning his face northwards. "Thank you for passing the message along. Eh—what are all you doing in Viridian, anyway?"

"The boss sent us out to prepare his gym," said the Rocket, motioning. "We're contacting the trainers who usually fight under him here, and cleaning up the whole thing… You know, grunt work."

"So the boss is returning to his gym, huh?" Dixie asked, looking over the other Rocket's shoulder, toward the gym. "I wonder why…?"

The other Rocket shrugged. "Guess that's the beauty of running your own crime syndicate—you don't have to tell anyone _why_ you want to do something, you just tell them that you're doing it."

Nodding, Dixie thanked the Rocket for passing Stanislaus' message along to him, and headed off. The message was that Stanislaus was only waiting in Cerulean, but Dixie knew that wasn't quite it. Dixie knew he was waiting in _that _place. Dixie sighed and pushed back his bangs from his forehead, remembering that weekend he'd spent there with Stanislaus for the second time that day.

It was funny, he thought, that his mind first jumped to the best parts of that time—the long morning spent in Stanislaus' arms, catching fireflies, laughing until his mouth and chest were sore. For a moment, he'd almost forgotten about the fight they'd had then. He couldn't remember what started it, only that it escalated very quickly. Stanislaus punched him in the mouth and threw him hard into a wall. He'd gotten a few more punches in, broken two of Dixie's ribs, before Nathair and Orla had gotten in-between them. Furious, Stanislaus had kicked Orla, knocking one of her teeth loose.

He'd stormed off, knuckles bloody, half-dressed, no shoes on. What could Dixie do but to chase after him?

"Stanislaus! C-come back!" he'd said, rushing out the door after the older boy.

Stanislaus turned and looked at him and there was venom in his gaze which brought Dixie to a dead stop. Without a word, Stanislaus turned his face away and kept right on walking—knuckles bloody, half-dressed, no shoes on. Dixie shrunk back and let him go as Nathair nuzzled his trainer's hand sympathetically.

That was the last time they went to that cabin together.

The next time they saw each other, Stanislaus apologized and kissed Dixie tenderly and told him that he hadn't meant what he'd said or what he'd did. He told him he'd never do it again. He rubbed Dixie's cheek and told him he loved him and asked if Dixie really believed he'd ever want to hurt someone he loved so much. It had been easy to believe a week prior when the same thing had happened. And when it had happened before that, and before that, and before that…

But he looked so sincere. What could Dixie think but that he spoke in earnest and it'd be different that time?

Dixie's mind slipped from the memory as he rubbed his ribs, feeling the bumps beneath the skin where the bones had healed so recently. He frowned and pulled Gaius' coat tighter around himself, wrapping it around himself completely. The lapels brushed his nose, and they still smelt like the coat's owner.

"I wonder," he murmured. "If I had been in Johto instead, back then, maybe you would've been the one I met…"

His eyes teared up as he thought about how it would've been to find first love in someone who protects instead of harms. Still, he trudged on toward Cerulean. He wasn't sure what Stanislaus wanted, specifically, but he was certain it would be bad news for Arden. And if that were the case—certainly he couldn't refuse—then it would shortly follow that it would be bad news for him, once Gaius found out.

"I can't very well run away," he said. "Then I'll have Team Rocket to deal with. And it's not like someone like Gaius wouldn't follow me to the ends of the earth, anyway, for hurting his precious brother…" Dixie sighed.

Life was grim and black and humorless.


	64. Cinnabar Island II

Arden peeled off his damp and clinging clothes on a secluded stretch of the Cinnabar beach before laying them on the ground to dry. With a shiver, he took a seat on a rock and turned his face toward the sky. "Well," he said to Gimpy. "At least this creepy ever-present sunshine's good for making things dryer… What's with that, anyway?"

"Toise," said Gimpy, looking up at the sky as well.

Arden pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on them. "Do you think they'll be dry soon?" he asked. "This is embarrassing."

"Blastoise…"

"I had to take them off, though! They were all wet and clingingy," Arden said. "Guh! It's like having corpses grabbing onto you when your clothes are damp. You wouldn't understand—you don't wear clothes. But you know what? I do!"

"Really? Doesn't look like it," said a female voice behind Arden.

"Well, that's because I'm not wearing them right now," Arden answered flatly. "But, usually—gah!"

"Usually 'gah'?" asked the woman as Arden jerked around toward her. She was a young lady with black hair cut at her chin, dressed in a lab coat. "I wasn't aware that something could usually be 'gah'—I thought that was always a very unusual occurrence."

Arden blushed. "Ah—no, no, no that's not what I… I was just… Please stop staring at me."

With a smile, the woman turned her face away. "Yeah, sure," she said. "You're Gaius Blake's little brother, right?"

Blinking, the boy asked, "You know Gaius?"

"Yeah," she said, nodding cheerfully. "I ran with his gang until a few months ago when I moved to Cinnabar. My name's Elara, by the way." She held out her hand to Arden and he shook it.

"This is the first time I've ever met anyone from my brother's gang," Arden told her.

"Really?" she asked, seeming surprised.

"He mentioned heading a gang that runs between Cherrygrove and Azalea town," said Arden. "But he never said anything else. I never saw him with anyone else—not anyone who looked like part of a gang—so I just sort of took his word for it."

Elara grinned widely. "Well, I don't know what to make of that—but he always told us about _you_," she said, poking Arden's nose. "Every time he'd have a few drinks, he'd make us all get in close and he'd pull out this locket with your picture in it."

"How embarrassing," mumbled Arden.

"I think it's sweet. Anyway, he'd always pull out that locket and he'd say—." Here she puffed out her chest and deepened her voice in an imitation of Arden's older brother. "This is my baby brother! If you ever see him, you be sure to help him out with anything! Because I love my baby brother more than anything!"

Arden blushed. "That's even more embarrassing," he said. "Him saying things like that—making me sound like I can't do anything…"

"Embarrassing?" said Elara. "You're sitting on a public beach in your boxers and you find your brother loving you embarrassing?"

The young trainer's face turned even redder. "I-I told you! My clothes are all wet!"

"You didn't say anything about that," she replied. "When I walked up, you were talking to your blastoise. …Hi, by the way." She waved to the pokemon and he nodded back to her. "I didn't catch your name, good sir…"

"He's called Gimpy," Arden said. "On account of his leg."

She leaned over Arden to get a better look. "Oh, I see," he murmured, touching Gimpy's twisted foot gingerly. She looked up at him. "Does it hurt?"

"Toise."

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Elara. "How long has it been like that."

Gimpy looked at her side ways and shrugged. "Blas. Blastoise, blas."

"I'm sorry," Elara said again. "It must be hard for you…"

Gimpy shrugged again. "Blas. Blastoise," he said, turning his face away and gesturing to Arden with one thick hand. "Toise blas blastoise oise."

Elara giggled and Arden looked between her and his pokemon. "You understand that? Jeez! Am I the only one in the whole world who doesn't?!"

"It's an acquired skill," she told him, patting him on top of his head. "I've spent a long time learning it. Don't worry about it."

Arden frowned. "Okay," he mumbled. "But what's _he _saying about me? I know it was about me! He pointed and everything!"

Gimpy crossed his arms. "Toise."

"Self-centered, he called you," said Elara. Gimpy flattened his ears and looked at her.

"Blas-toise!"

"What? What'd he say?"

"He said not to tell you what he's saying," Elara told the boy. She paused and looked back to the pokemon. "Oh, I'm sorry. I did it again, didn't I?" The blastoise nodded.

"Blas-blas."

She smiled. "Alright!" she said. "But from now on, I swear that my lips are sealed!"

"Hey, that's not fair," said Arden. "Now it's like a conspiracy…"

Elara frowned. "You're a bit on the paranoid side, aren't you?" she asked earnestly. "Well, no matter! Hey, why don't you get some pants on and I'll show you where I work!"

"Where you work…?"

With an enthusiastic nod, she straightened up and spun around, pointing to a large, stark building not far away. "I'm an assistant at that pokemon lab," she said proudly. "I get my own lab coat and everything!"

"Pokemon lab?" said Arden, rubbing his chin. "Like the one in New Bark? Or Pallet? …man, I hated that Pallet town lab. It gave me the creeps. Professor Oak has a real 'pedo' vibe to him." Gimpy nodded in solemn agreement.

Elara laughed and crossed her arms behind her back. "Well, it's kind of like that," she said. "But here we study different things from Elm and Oak. We also don't hand out pokemon, because this island's so remote…"

"What do you study there?"

"We study extinct pokemon," she said looking at the building fondly. It was the same expression she'd worn talking about his brother—a loving expression. "There are so many different types of pokemon all over the world, and only a tiny fraction of those have been discovered and catalogued by humans. But, even if we ever saw them all—every single pokemon all around the world—we'd only be seeing a tiny, tiny piece of all the pokemon that have ever walked the earth. Pokemon researchers like Elm and Oak are looking at the ones that are alive now—they study rare pokemon like your blastoise in an attempt to understand how pokemon evolve or how their special abilities work. We're studying the fossils of pokemon that died before human beings were even a dream in an attempt to understand how pokemon and people are related. We're looking at fossils like a mirror, and trying to see ourselves in them…"

"What have you found out so far?" Arden asked her.

"We found out that there are more things in this world than we could ever have anticipated," Elara answered. "We're learning that there are so many pokemon that have passed across this same ground we're standing on. And though they'll pass upon it no more, they've very graciously left pieces of themselves behind so that we can get to know them. Or, at least, so that we can imagine what it would have been like to know them… It's quite a treasure to us. I'm sad that those pokemon are gone, but I'm glad that I've got the chance to research them."

"You sound very passionate about it," noted Arden.

"Oh, I am," said Elara. "Here, get dressed and I'll give you a tour of the place."

"My clothes aren't dry yet," said Arden, putting his chin on his knees again. "I really don't like wearing them wet…"

Elara reached into her coat pocket. "I can fix that," she said brightly. She pulled a pokeball from her lab coat. "Go, Elfi!"

With a flash a houndoom appeared from the young woman's pokeball. "Hoooou!" barked the pokemon rubbing her head against her trainer's hand.

"Elfi!" said Elara, kneeling down and patting the houndoom's head. "Who's a good girl? Who's a good girl?"

"Hou!"

"That's right! Elfi is!"

"A houndoom?" asked Arden, craning his neck to get a better look. "Gaius has one, too, doesn't he? But his is bigger—it has bigger horns…"

"His is a boy," said Elara, patting her pokemon's cheek. "But Elfi here is a cute, precious little girl."

"Well, she's not exactly _little_," murmured Arden. "Eh—how is she going to help me dry my clothes."

"Guess."

"I… I've got nothing."

"Then it will be a surprise!" said Elara. "Elfi! Those clothes! Flamethrower!"

"Hoooou!" barked Elfi, arching her back.

"Fl-flamethrower?!" exclaimed Arden. "Flamethrower?! No!"

The houndoom let out a blast of fire over Arden's clothes as Gimpy scrambled back and away from it. "My clothes!" said Arden.

"They're fine!" said Elara, waving off his concern.

"They're on fire!"

"No, they're _near _fire," she said. "It's alright. Elfi does this sort of thing all the time."

"They're going to get burnt!" said Arden, standing up. "Get that away from them!"

"But they're not dry yet…"

"They're going to be too dry! Ashes are too dry!"

"Fine," said Elara. "Elfi!"

The fire died out and Elfi barked happily. "Hou!"

Arden dashed over to his clothes and picked up his jacket, hugging it to his chest. The boy blinked. "It's warm," he said. "And dry."

"No need for thanks or anything," said Elara, smiling. "Though, if you want to thank me, I prefer cash. Or chocolate."

"Hooooundooom!"

"Oh, yes," said Elara. "And if you want to thank Elfi, she prefers steak. But not chocolate. Chocolate's bad for pokemon."

"Oh," said Arden. "Well, I don't really have any of those things…"

"That's alright. It was a joke," said Elara, putting her hands on her hip. "Get dressed. Let's go to the lab."

Nodding, Arden obeyed.


	65. Cinnabar Lab

"Forgive me if this is off base, since we just met and all," said Elara as she and Arden made their way toward the lab. "But are you always so sullen, or has something got you down?"

"I'm fine," mumbled Arden.

Elara frowned and glanced at Gimpy. "He tellin' the truth about that?"

"Blastoise," Gimpy said.

"Oh yeah? Go on…"

"Blas blast oise blastoise oise toise—"

"Hey, what are you telling her?" said Arden, glaring at his pokemon. "Shut up."

"—Toise blast bla."

"I see," Elara said. "That's too bad…"

"What? What's he telling you?" said Arden, looking back and forth between them. He smacked the blastoise's nose. "I told you to stop telling her things!"

"Aw, poor thing," said Elara, touching the pokemon's nose gingerly. She looked to Arden. "And you too. I'm sorry that you were attacked by Team Rocket members."

Arden shrugged. "I came out of it alright," he said, looking away. "I'm alright."

"You don't sound like you're alright…"

The boy turned his eyes to the floor. "I am alright," he said. "I'm just pissed off is all. I mean… This Rocket, Dixie, he seemed so nice. I thought we were friends and then… that. I'm angry."

"You don't sound angry," Elara said. "You sound sad."

"Hey—who died and made you psychotherapist, huh? Just 'cause you're in a lab coat doesn't mean you know everything, alright," said Arden, scowling.

Elara laughed softly. "Alright. I'm sorry—I overstepped my bounds," she said. "Forgive me?"

"Yeah, sure…"

She crossed her arms behind her back. "I'm sorry that happened to you," she said.

"I told you, I'm fine," he said. "…You're not going to tell Gaius about any of this, right?"

The young woman smiled sweetly. "I don't even know where Gaius is—how could I tell him?" she said. "But, it seems like something you should tell him. After all, the way your blastoise tells it, you only just got away from there before."

"If I tell Gaius, he's going to come swooping in here like I need help," said Arden grinding his teeth together. "I hate it when he does that. He's been doing that to me my whole life and I hate it. Whatever comes my way, I can handle it. I don't need to be protected. I'm not a little kid, and I don't need to be protected by my big brother."

"He only does it because he loves you," Elara said.

"I know, but it's not like that makes it any better," Arden spat. "I don't want to be someone that has to be saved all the time. I can handle it if it happens again. I was just caught off guard before, because of Dixie. Besides…"

"Besides…?"

"No, nothing," said Arden. "Forget I said anything…"

"There is something else, though, right?" asked Elara. "Or else you wouldn't have said 'besides'."

"Sure I would have. People say extra words all the time. It doesn't mean anything."

"I think it does," Elara said. "I guess it's fine if you don't want to tell me…"

"What do you mean 'I guess'? Of course it's fine! We just met! I don't have to tell you anything, just because you knew my brother or whatever," Arden said. "Why are you so nosey, anyway?"

"The soap opera I used to watch got cancelled," Elara told him. "So now I do this for amusement. Anyway, I think the 'besides' must be that you don't want to tell Gaius because you don't want him to hurt that Rocket you knew—eh, Dixie was the name, wasn't it?"

Arden looked at her sideways and said nothing.

"Well?" she said. "Am I right?"

"Toise."

They reached the lab and doors opened before them, revealing a nice, clean lobby with a hallway branching off of it. The girl at the reception counter looked up and greeted them with a cheerful, "Good morning! Friends of yours, Elara?"

Elara nodded. "Actually, this is the little brother of a good friend of mine," she said, leaning against the counter. "Do I have any mail?"

"Just this letter from a researcher in Hoenn," said the girl, reaching under the counter. She pulled out an envelop and handed it to Elara. "That's the same one you've been in correspondence with, right?"

"Yup," said Elara, opening the envelope. "I hope it's good news…"

"Where is 'Hoenn'?" Arden asked.

"It's far away," Elara said as she read the letter, stretching the vowels out as she spoke them, as if trying to convey the distance with her voice. "Far, far, far…"

"I went there once, when I was just a babe," said the girl behind the counter, spinning in her chair. "My papa took me on vacation there with Mama and my brothers and sisters! Oh, that was so fun!"

Elara made a squealing sound and hugged the letter to her chest. "It _is_ good!" she said. "He got approved to send me some fossil samples from Hoenn! They're in the mail, he says!"

"Congratulations!" said the girl.

"So what does that mean?" Arden asked Elara.

"It means that I'm going to be the first person in Kanto to study the fossils of these pokemon," Elara said, putting her hands on her hips. "These are extinct pokemon that have never been found anywhere outside of Hoenn."

"That's so great!" said the girl behind the counter. Arden nodded.

"Well, come on," said Elara, turning to Arden. "Let's show you the lab!"

They started down the hallway. It was a long corridor, full of doors—some open, some closed—and potted plants. Elara pointed to a door. "That's where we keep and catalogue the specimens which aren't being actively studied," she said. She pointed to another door. "And in there is a bank of computers full with the information we've compiled from our studies. I can't take you into the storage room for security reasons, but we've got a few specimens on active study that I could show you in here—come on."

She held the door for Arden and Gimpy before entering the room herself. Arden surveyed the large room as he walked in. Computers were set close together in large blocks, humming away as their screens displayed information that he couldn't begin to make sense of. "Is it alright for all of these computers to be on with no one sitting at them?" he asked Elara.

"Oh, yeah, it's fine," she said. "We always leave them on."

"Your electricity bills must be high…"

Elara grinned broadly. "Oh, they're _ridiculously _high," she said. "But it's for science!" Something at her hip beeped loudly and she looked down. "Oh, shoot—that'd be my boss. I have to go take this call. Can you two wait right here?"

"Yeah, sure," said Arden. With a smile, she turned and walked away, pulling a beeper off of her belt and mumbling softly to herself. Arden glanced around the room again, walking slowly toward one of the computers. "I wonder if I could play Tetris on here while I wait for her to get back…?"

He reached toward the keyboard, and Gimpy caught his wrist. "Blastoise." Arden looked at the blastoise, whose expression seemed to say 'is that such a good idea? Messing with something like that?'

Arden lowered his hand. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "It looks expensive."

The pokemon nodded his enormous head. "Blaaaastoise." He frowned and nudged Arden's shoulder. "Blas."

"Huh?" Arden followed Gimpy's gaze to a man in a lab coat and glasses standing across the room, watching them. Arden leaned in closer to his blastoise and whispered, "Has he been watching us for very long?"

"Toise…"

"Why does he keep staring over here…?"

Gimpy shrugged weakly. "Blas blas," he muttered uncomfortably.

"You think he might know about the Tetris plan?" said Arden, taking a step away from the computer. "He just keeps staring. I don't think I like this."

"Toise," Gimpy said, his tone full of agreement.

Arden stepped slightly behind Gimpy and wrapped his arms around one of the pokemon's, as if trying to make it clear that the very large blastoise belonged to him. He whispered to Gimpy, "Try to look grumpy and threatening. Maybe he'll look away." The blastoise screwed up his face and scrunched up his broad nose. "I said threatening, not constipated."

"Blas blastoise," said Gimpy, flattening his ears and looking down at his trainer. 'I could crush you easily', he seemed to be trying to say. However, Arden had trouble being afraid of something he had once had to carry every where, and which he could easily outrun anyway. Arden reached up one hand and flicked Gimpy on the nose. "Toise!"

The scientist continued to stare at them, unblinkingly. He hadn't moved and his face remained blank. Arden stared back at him uncomfortably. "H-hey," he said, waving a little to the man. "Do… do I know you?"

"You have a fossil, don't you?" asked the scientist, his voice a strange monotone.

"H-hey—I came here with Elara. I didn't steal anything," he said, lifting up his hands. "Honestly, you can ask her! I was with her the whole time I was here!"

"In your bag," said the scientist. "There's a fossil. One that's been with you for a long time."

Arden blinked. "I don't… Oh," he said, remembering his trip through Mt. Moon. If he thought about it because of the fossil, he wondered why his thoughts immediately went to the fact that he had first met Dixie there. "Y-yeah… there's a fossil in my bag. Eh—how did you know that?"

"Would you like me to revive that pokemon?" asked the scientist, his voice still flat.

"Revive? But it's a fossil, not a pokemon," Arden said, frowning. "You can't just 'revive' something that's fossilized, can you? I mean, I'm not saying I know more about your job than you, I'm just saying it seems like millions of years as a rock should kind of put a damper on its liveliness."

"Consider it cloning the pokemon, then."

"But, if you could do that," said Arden. "Why would you be studying fossils here?"

"Only I can do it," said the scientist. "It's my secret."

Arden stared at the man flatly. "Why would you keep that a secret?"

"That, too, is my secret."

"I see," Arden said slowly. "D-do you actually work here? Or is this going to be one of those things where I go back to Elara and say 'I met this weird guy with glasses and black hair' and she says 'there's no one like that who works here'."

"I work here."

"Well, anyone can _say _they work here," Arden mumbled, crossing his arms. "But where's the proof? The lab coat? I've seen those in costume shops. The glasses? Hardly conclusive. The nametag? I don't really know if that's your name or even your actual picture, do I? Anyone can crop their face next to a name and the title 'Dr' and have it laminated these days. For all I know, you're an absurdly prepared hobo, or an evil spy."

The scientist's face didn't change expressions. "If you don't want it revived," he said in monotone. "You only have to say 'no'."

"No—I want it revived," Arden said quickly. He unslung his pack and fished the fossil out of it, before taking it to the man. "You can revive this, right?"

"I can revive anything. It's my secret."

The scientist took the fossil from him and they stood in silence. "Well?" Arden said at last.

"It's my secret. I can't do it while you're here."

"I knew it," said Arden. "You're a fraud. You just want to steal my fossil! …not that I cared about it to begin with. Or that it in any way explains how you knew…"

"Take a walk. I'll revive your pokemon if you go take a walk."

"Alright," said Arden, looking at him sideways. He turned to his pokemon. "C'mon, Gimp. Let's see if we can find Elara."

"Blastoise," said Gimpy as they moved toward the door.

"I'm not going to see that fossil again, am I?" Arden mumbled to the pokemon.

_**A/N:** Hey--I thought I mentioned it when I put it up, but it appears not. The Gaius-centric story I mentioned wanting to write before is up. Er, the prologue's up, anyhow. So, anyway, if that's relevent to your interests..._


	66. Cinnabar Island III

Elara hung up the phone gently. Her boss was on business in Pewter Town, and he'd been calling to tell her it was going to take longer than expected. He was a nice guy, her boss at the Lab—however, to her he couldn't hold a candle to her old boss, Gaius. She frowned, staring at the phone and thinking of Gaius, and of his little brother who had been attacked by Rockets, and yet told her not to tell him. "He'd want to know," she mumbled, picking up the phone. "After all, I didn't actually promise not to tell him."

She dialed the number of his pokegear and waited as it rung. After a moment, Gaius answered. "Hello?"

"Gaius—it's Elara."

"Elara!" said Gaius, his voice cheerful. "Hey, I haven't talked to you in a while! You know, I was just tellin' Professor Elm about how you're a big fossil researcher now. How's Kanto? You workin' hard on unraveling the mysteries of the world, or whatever?"

"You know it."

"That's great. You're not smokin' again, right?"

"Nope. Not once."

"That's good. Good for you. Didn't I tell you that you could do it?"

"Yeah. It's hard but—"

"Keep at it."

"I will," said Elara, smiling and leaning against the wall. "I met your little brother today."

"Baby brother? How is he?"

"Well…"

"What? Did something happen? What's wrong?"

"He asked me not to tell you but… He was attacked by a couple of Rockets. They tried to force him to join and there was a scuffle. He's not hurt though."

On the other end of line there was silence.

"Gaius? Gaius, whatever you're thinking—"

"One of those Rockets—one of them was that guy he'd been traveling with, wasn't it? Dixie?"

"—Please don't."

"I'm gonna fuckin' kill that guy."

"Gaius, this is probably why he didn't want me to tell you anything—"

"I shoulda snapped his little neck the first time I saw him. I knew this would happen. That something like this would happen."

"He doesn't want you to hurt him. That's why he told me not to tell—your brother and that guy, I think he still wants to be friends with that Rocket."

"No. Out of the question. I'm gonna beat the shit out of that guy, and the other one too."

"I don't think your brother'll forgive you if you hurt him."

"I can live without baby brother's forgiveness, so long as he's safe."

"Gaius—"

With a click, Gaius hung up. Elara frowned and thought about calling him back, and trying to get him to cool off. Instead, she set the phone down with a sigh. "Was that wrong of me, after all?" she wondered to herself in a whisper. "I… I just wanted to help…"

"Hey, there you are," said Arden from the door way. Elara looked up, smiling at him.

"Yeah—sorry. My boss is a little long-winded," she said, crossing her arms behind her back. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing," said Arden. "There was just this guy in that room you left us in who was really creeping Gimp and me out."

"That must've been Bradley," said Elara. "He's a bit off, but he does good work."

"Is he always monotone like that?"

Elara nodded. "Word is, he got dropped on his head as a baby, and that's why he talks like that," she said. "But I just think he does it to screw with people."

"Well, it certainly was unsettling," Arden mumbled. Behind him, Gimpy nodded. "He kept talking about secrets and just staring at me with those dead eyes…"

Elara giggled. "Oh, Bradley—he's such a kidder," she said.

"Yeah, he's a holler," mumbled Arden. "Anyway, I was thinking I should probably be checking out the gym for my next badge. So, if you don't mind, I'm gonna go."

"Oh, of course," said Elara. "It was nice meeting you. Good luck at the gym."

"Thanks," said Arden. "Bye."

"Toise," said Gimpy, waving to Elara as they started away. She waved back, until they'd disappeared around the corner, into the lobby. When they were out of sight, she sighed and leaned against the wall.

"I hope Gaius doesn't do anything to make that poor kid brother of his hate him," she said, frowning deeply.

Arden and Gimpy left the lab, passing by the sunny girl at the counter who cheerfully bid them farewell. Arden craned his neck around, looking for the gym, once they were outside. Spotting the large building, he made toward it with his blastoise shuffling along behind him. "She was a nice lady, Elara, wasn't she?" asked Arden.

"Blas," said Gimpy, nodding.

"I wonder if everyone in Gaius' gang is like that—nice and all," said the young trainer as he walked along. "That'd be kinda strange, wouldn't it? A gang full of nice delinquents. I can't imagine what they'd do… Forcibly assist old ladies with their groceries?"

They reached the gym, but the doors didn't open before them. Gimpy flattened his ears and looked around. "Blas?"

"Huh," said Arden. "I guess this gym doesn't have automatic doors. It is pretty far out of the way, I guess, so that makes sense… I guess."

He pressed on one of the doors, but it wouldn't budge. Frowning, he pulled, but the doors remained firmly closed. Gimpy tapped him on the shoulder and he turned to see the blastoise was pointing at a sign taped onto the inside of the door. Arden leaned forward and read it aloud. "The gym leader is out." Arden scowled, "Out? Out where? When's he coming back?!"

"Blas bla," said Gimpy.

"I know it can't answer," said Arden, crossing his arms. "Man, this blows…"

He uncrossed his arms and knocked on the door. "Hey, excuse me?" he yelled. "Is there someone inside there? Hey?"

Gimpy clicked one nail against the glass, where the sign was taped up. "Bla blastoise oise blas."

"I know! I read it, genius," said Arden, leaning against the doors. A dilapidated building on a rocky rise above them caught his eye and he straightened up again. "Hey, look at that. What d'you suppose it is?"

The blastoise looked where his trainer gestured. "Blastoise?" he said, flattening his ears.

The building looked as though it had been abandoned for a very long time—it was little more than rotting and burnt timber which had the semblance of a building. Arden asked, "Do you think that's the sort of place strong pokemon might hang out?"

"Blas."

"You're lying. You just don't want to check it out."

Gimpy shrugged. "Blastoise."

Arden started forward as the pokemon stayed behind, watching him. The boy stopped and turned around. "Hey—come on," he said, putting his hands on his hips. "Where ever I go you have to go, too. It's a rule. A pokemon rule."

"Blas?" asked Gimpy. 'Why?'

"You just have to!" said Arden. "This is how it works. Stop being a coward, because we're going into that structurally unsound and creepy building and we're going _now._"

The blastoise grabbed hold of the gym doors and shook his massive head. "Toise!" objected Gimpy.

"Fine," said Arden, furrowing his brow. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest. "Then I'll go without you. And you're gonna be here all alone. And you're going to miss me and you're going to be all sad and lonely, and if I find leprechaun gold up there, you don't get any. Hell, if I find cookies, you don't even get any of those. Because you're a coward and you wouldn't come."

"Blas," said Gimpy, waving goodbye to the young trainer.

Arden glared at him flatly. "Oh, you are insufferable," he said. "Fine. Be seein' you later, ingrate. I've got plenty of pokemon willing to pick up your slack when you're not around."

Gimpy watched him march off toward the burned mansion, half-amused and half-concerned. The blastoise didn't go after him, however—he was tired of strange places and battling strange pokemon, and he was sure that, whatever was there, Arden could handle it. The pokemon took a seat next to the gym to wait for his trainer's return.


	67. North of Cerulean

Dixie approached Stanislaus' cabin—that secluded little place in the mountains. He'd been there a few times after things went sour between them and Stanislaus had left for Johto, but going there alone mostly just made him lonely. He found himself, whenever he visited it, mostly moping around and fighting back tears as he stared at the cold, empty bed.

As Dixie neared the cabin, Adalhelm stuck his head out from around the side of the building. His distrustful, mean-spirited eyes followed Dixie's steps, and the Rocket couldn't help but feel nervous. As Dixie got closer, the stantler slunk around the corner and with slow, careful steps, made as though to intercept him. As Dixie raised his hand to knock on the door, the pokemon barked loudly. "Stantler!"

Before Dixie could knock, the door opened, and he was face to face with a very disgruntled seeming Stanislaus. He had bandages over his eye, from which the tail end of a laceration and the stitches closing it were peaking. Silently, Stanislaus stepped inside, out of the door way. Dixie hesitated, glancing at the stantler, who was still watching him intently, before entering the cabin. "How's your eye?" Dixie asked as the older Rocket shut the door behind him.

Stanislaus' lip curled into a snarl. "How do you _think_ it is?" he said. "That goddamned kid—it's all sliced to hell. It's going to scar all around it and I'm not going to be able to see with it again."

"I'm sorry, Stanislaus," said Dixie. He kept his distance from the other man, who was now leaning against the door.

"Apologies won't put the sight back into my eye," growled Stanislaus. Dixie turned his face toward the ground. "You didn't even try to help."

Dixie bit his lip and said nothing, though he wanted to apologize and beg Stanislaus' forgiveness. However, if Stanislaus didn't want apologies, he wouldn't give him any.

Stanislaus straightened up and strode toward Dixie, pinning him against the wall. "I want you to tell me everything you know about that kid," he said, his face only inches away from Dixie's. The younger boy determinedly kept his eyes down. "I'm gonna pay that little bastard back a hundred fold for this."

Dixie couldn't help but look up at this. "Y-you're going to hurt him?"

"I'm going to _kill_ him," said Stanislaus, narrowing his eye.

"St-stanislaus, he's just a—just a kid…"

"He ruined my face and my eyeball," said Stanislaus, snarling and leaning in closer. Dixie suddenly felt very small and weak.

"It's not so bad," said Dixie as he smiled weakly. "You—you could get an eye patch and start smoking cigarettes from a long holder. They might promote you."

Stanislaus grabbed onto Dixie's shoulder hard. "I have always hated your sense of humor," he said flatly. "But I've always loved your smile. It's a paradox." Dixie relaxed a little as Stanislaus leaned his face in a little closer. "Do you know where that kid is now, hm?"

Dixie shook his head. "He flew away," he said. "I have no way of knowing to where."

"Is that the whole truth?" asked Stanislaus softly, lifting Dixie's chin with one hand so that he had to look him in the face. Dixie looked away from Stanislaus' deep blue eye. "You spent a while with him, didn't you? You have some thought where he might be, isn't that right?"

"I don't want him to get hurt," mumbled Dixie.

"Just tell me, hm?" Stanislaus asked, leaning his forehead against Dixie's. "Come on—don't you love me, Dixie?"

"I d-d…"

Stanislaus kissed him gently. Dixie put one hand against the other man's chest in a feeble attempt to push him away. However, he quickly gave into the kiss, and when they parted it was with Dixie's reluctance.

"So just tell me," said Stanislaus. "What do you owe him?"

"I l-like him…"

"More than me?"

"That's not—not the same. I can't say…"

"You're too nice to people. I'm sure you tried to help that kid out, help him along," said Stanislaus. "But do you think he cares about you at all beyond your usefulness? That's just naive."

"Y-yes, I suppose it is," mumbled Dixie, looking down.

"I care about you though; you know that. I'm always going to be here…" He kissed Dixie's cheek softly. "Now, you must have some idea where he is, yeah?"

"V-very vaguely," said Dixie. "He's a trainer so I think…"

"What do you think, love?"

"I think," said Dixie uncertainly. "That he… he probably came back to Kanto."

"To get more badges?"

Dixie nodded. "I-I think so…"

"And which badges did he have?" asked Stanislaus, gently taking Gaius' coat off Dixie's shoulders and letting it fall to the floor. "Do you know?"

Dixie nodded again. "Boulder, cascade, thunder, rainbow… I think those are what he had. I don't know…"

Stanislaus wrapped his arms around Dixie's waist and kissed him on the lips again. When they parted, Stanislaus whispered, "We can go into the bedroom, if you'd like." Dixie smiled and nodded, and so they went.

When they were finished, Dixie fell asleep in Stanislaus' arms. For a while, Stanislaus laid very still, his arms wrapped around Dixie, feeling the soothing rise and fall of the younger man's chest as he slept. Slowly and carefully, Stanislaus slid his arm out from under Dixie. The younger Rocket frowned and turned over, but didn't wake. Stanislaus slid out of the bed, before turning back and kissing Dixie's forehead and pulling the blanket up around him. "Sleep well," he whispered, brushing back Dixie hair softly.

As silently as he could, Stanislaus got dressed and left the room. He paused outside of the bedroom door, his hand resting on the single pokeball on his belt. After a moment, he turned and walked to a short set of drawers against the wall and pulled one open. Within, all kinds of pokeballs rolled back and forth. He selected a couple of them and hooked them to his belt before leaving the cabin. His stantler came trotting up to meet him, and they started away from the building.

Adalhelm glanced back at the cabin as they walked.

"He's sleeping," said Stanislaus. "He's not coming along. He'd only hesitate or get in the way."

The pokemon nodded silently, his gaze moving to Stanislaus' belt. He flattened his ears a bit to see that his trainer was bringing more pokemon along, but made no comment of it.

"There are four locations we'll be most likely to find that little bastard," said Stanislaus. "We could try Viridian, Cinnabar, Saffron or Fuchsia. Those were the places that Dixie said he didn't have badges from. I don't think the boss has returned to Viridian yet, so we can probably ignore that one, even though it's closest."

"Stantler."

"He had that wartortle, didn't he?" said Stanislaus. "The easiest gym would probably be Cinnabar, then. Or, at the least, it's as good a shot as any. We'll check there first."


	68. Pokemon Mansion

Up close, the dilapidated mansion looked positively enormous. Arden walked around it, looking at its charred and weathered walls. "I wonder what happened here," he muttered to himself as he came upon the rusted and broken double doors of the building, which swayed gently on their hinges. He pushed one of the doors and, with only a squeak of resistance, it opened inward easily. Biting his lower lip, the boy entered.

Within, the building was dim and smelt of burnt wood and dust. The floorboards creaked beneath Arden's feet as he walked over a damaged red carpet covered with chips of wood and other debris. The only light came from holes in the ceiling above, which streamed down like the beams of flashlights.

"It smells like fireworks in here," said Arden approvingly. It reminded him of a painting of a cathedral he'd seen in a picture book as a child, except where that building was grandly decorated and decadent, this one was worn out and dying. Yet the impression of a cathedral—all silent and dark and full of something supernatural—lingered.

Arden pressed his hand to a stark, cracked pillar which was supporting the building, and when he pulled his hand away again it left behind an impression on the pillar's dirty side. Rubbing his hand off on his pant leg, he started deeper into the building. A strange statue caught his eye and he approached it cautiously—a carving of a pokemon he'd never seen before and couldn't even begin to imagine the origin of. "Is this one of those extinct pokemon Elara was telling me about?" he wondered, running his fingers over the statue. Like everything else in the mansion, it was covered in dirt. As his fingers ran along it, he encountered a hidden knob. Arden craned his neck around the statue to see what it was, and found it to be a sort of switch. "That's weird."

Curious, he pressed it. Within the walls there was a clinking sound as some old mechanism, accustomed to years of disuse, creaked to life. Arden looked around and scowled to see no visible changes. "Who hides a completely pointless switch?" he wondered to himself. He walked away from it, deeper into the building.

At length, the young trainer came upon a rickety staircase, whose rotten banister had fallen away from it long before and now lay on the ground collecting dust. "Jeez," mumbled Arden, starting up it cautiously. It creaked under his feet as he ascended. "Sloppy building codes, much?"

The second floor was far brighter, as the roof was almost completely destroyed, leaving a spectacular view of the bright blue sky and the towering volcano which had formed Cinnabar and the azure ocean sparkling beyond it all the way to the horizon. Arden took a deep breath as he looked out on the picturesque scenery. "This was totally worth it," he mumbled. "Stupid Gimpy—he doesn't know anything."

"Hey! Who's there?!" shouted someone behind Arden. He spun around quickly to see a man in a burglar's outfit, with a sack over his shoulder. The man's face twisted into an almost comical exaggeration of a frown. "Ah, crap!" he shouted. "I thought this place was empty!"

"It was," said Arden, gesturing over his shoulder. "I just got here right now."

"No, no, no," said the man, clutching his head. "You can't _be _here, man! If there's someone here, then that makes this a robbery instead of a burglary. I could go to prison, man! I can't handle prison—do you know what happens in prison?"

"I… didn't even know we _had _prisons around here, actually," said Arden. "Eh—wait, burglary? It's a run-down house. What could you _possibly _be stealing?"

"Plenty, man," said the burglar, unslinging his pack from his shoulder and opening it. He pulled out an old diary. "Like this, man. I found, like, six of these things."

"Old books?"

"Old journals," said the burglar. "For some reason, they only ever wrote on one page of each. That's a lot of unused paper, man—and I'm gonna be the one that uses it."

"What's it say?"

"Eh?"

"The journal," said Arden, nodding toward it. "What's written in it? What kind of people were the people who lived here? What happened to this place?"

"I don't know that, man," said the burglar.

"You've got their journals."

"Yeah," said the burglar. "But they're all… rushed and confused, man. Something bad was going down here. They were scientists, man, working on some sort of pokemon experiment. A pokeriment, if you will, man."

"Scientists?" said Arden. "Like the fossil researchers at that lab?"

"I don't know, man! Stop asking so many questions," said the burglar, grabbing his head again. "It's too much. I gotta think, man. I can't go to prison. You know what they do to you in prison? They make you do crafts, man. I hate crafts. I'm no good at them. I get glue on the table, and then it's all sticky."

"I—what?"

"I've got it!" said the burglar. "If I get rid of you, man, then no one can say this was a robbery because you won't, like, be here."

"That's murder," said Arden, rubbing his temples. "It's an even bigger crime. I—honestly, it's not like there's a police station around. I'm not going to tell anyone about this, except for maybe mentioning vaguely how weird you are."

"No dice, man. You have to be gotten rid of," said the burglar. He reached to his belt. "Go, Growlithe, man!"

He threw out a pokeball and a growlithe appeared, arching its back and barking. Arden's face faulted. "Oh," he said. "You're one of _those_."

"Those _what_s, man?"

"Those people who force me to battle for the craziest reasons," said Arden. "But, fine. Whatever. Go—Cruelty!"

The raichu appeared and Arden physically recoiled to see, now, the damage which had been done to his face. He'd been able to put it out of his mind—that fight and all the fear and horribleness associated with it—but it came rushing back as he looked at Cruelty's broken nose, which was now somewhat crooked in his face, and his cheek which had been smashed and so was partially caved into his face. Arden could see, as well, that one of his paws didn't look quite right, like his toes had been broken, and that a chunk had been torn from one of his ears, and that his ribs on one side looked strange as though they, too, had been broken, and that his tail bent sharply near the base in a way that was unnatural.

Despite this, however, Cruelty showed no signs of feeling any pain. His eyes were as fierce as ever and he arched his back with a growl of, "Cha!"

"Growlithe, ember!"

Arden pulled his whip from his belt. "Dig, Cruelty!" he said cracking it. The pokemon lunged sideways as the enemy growlithe spewed a mouthful of flames at him. Swiftly, Cruelty burrowed into the ground.

"What's with the whip, man?" asked the burglar. "It's so hostile."

"He doesn't listen without the whip," said Arden.

"Did you, like, do that to his face, man? That's so hostile."

"No, I didn't," said Arden crossly. "And stop saying 'hostile'."

"Man, so hostile…"

"Stop saying 'hostile'!"

"Fine, man, fine. Chill out," said the burglar wearily.

With a blast of energy, Cruelty rocketed out of the ground beneath the growlithe, throwing it violently upwards. "Raaaicha!"

"W-wait a minute," said Arden. "Come to think of it, how on earth did you just dig inside a building? On the second story?"

Cruelty glanced over his shoulder at his trainer, flattening his ears in annoyance. "Cha!"

"Grooowl," mumbled the growlithe, struggling to his feet.

"Woah, Growlithe—easy man," said the burglar. "Don't, like, strain yourself or nothin'. Use ember again."

"Cruelty! Thunderbolt!"

Arden cracked his whip and his raichu's intact cheek sparked. Arden's stomach dropped as he thought of how much pain Cruelty must be in. A bolt of electricity shot from Cruelty to the burglar's growlithe, knocking it back and fainting it. "Oh, man!" said the burglar, picking up his pokemon. "That's just so… oh, man. I'm outta here!"

He turned and ran away, to the stairs, one of which broke beneath him, sending him tumbling down with a clatter. "Are you okay?" Arden called after him. "Did you get hurt?"

"Only my pride, man," came the reply from below.

Arden turned to Cruelty. "Does—it hurt badly?" he asked after a tentative moment.

Cruelty flattened his ears and shook his head. "Raicha."

"You don't have to pretend if it does," mumbled Arden, crossing his arms. "I'm… I'm sorry. You got messed up like that because I did something stupid—believed something stupid."

"Rai. Raichu." _'Of course,'_ he was saying. _'But that's the lot of a captured pokemon.'_

"Are you mad at me for it? I mean, more than you're usually mad?"

The pokemon shrugged. "Cha."

Arden bit his lip. "I don't know what that means," he said. "I mean… I guess you can't be too mad, right? Or else you'd be attacking me, right?"

"Raichu."

The response, given with no body language or inflection to indicate anything in particular, was not a great help to Arden. Arden sighed. "Well, whether it hurts or not, or whether you're mad about it—and I can't imagine how you couldn't be—just… I'm sorry, alright? I feel bad about that."

"Cha," said Cruelty. 'Don't.'

Arden turned and looked at the mostly destroyed roof, and the marvelous landscape beyond it. "Hey," he said after a moment. "Would you like to look out at the ocean with me? I think we could maybe see the mainland from here—we're pretty high up."

Cruelty shrugged nonchalantly but, all the same, followed Arden toward a spot where the wall had fallen down along with the roof, leaving a strip of floor exposed to the outside. They walked to the edge of the floor, carefully avoiding the holes which dotted the level, and sat down—Arden with his feet dangling over the edge and Cruelty with his own long feet sticking up over his round stomach.

"I wish I could understand it when you guys talk," said Arden distantly. Cruelty looked at him long-ways. "I wish I were a good trainer like that. If I were, then maybe… Maybe you would've been alright back, in Mahogany."

"Raichu. Cha." Cruelty looked out at the ocean. 'Forget about it,' he was saying. 'My scars are my own fault.'

"And if I could understand you," said Arden. "Then maybe I could understand why you're always so violent."

"Cha," said Cruelty. 'I fight to be stronger.'

"But I can't," said Arden. "And I don't think I ever will. So I guess the point's all moot, huh? Just… I just want you to know that I wish it was different. I wish that it was… That I were better."

"Rai," said Cruelty. 'We all understand that.'


	69. North of Cerulean II

Dixie felt so cold. Sleepily, he turned over and reached out his hand, feeling the empty bed next to him. "Stan…?" he muttered, cracking his eyes open slightly. As he thought, Stanislaus was gone. Groggily, Dixie sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. As the haze of sleep left his mind, Dixie suddenly became aware of someone standing beside the bed. He turned his face to look. "Stanis—oh!"

Beside him, Gaius grinned and pulled back one arm. "Rise an' shine, kiddo," he said, punching Dixie squarely in the face. Dixie's nose cracked and he cried out in pain, cupping his hands over it as blood drizzled down out of his nostrils thickly. As Gaius made to throw another punch, Dixie rolled out of the bed and attempted to flee. The bed sheets entangled his legs and he fell hard on the ground. Gaius hauled him up by the arm and slammed him hard against the wall, prompting him to cry out again.

"Oh, stop screamin' and be a man," said Gaius, pulling a switchblade out of his pocket as he pressed Dixie hard against the wall. Dixie thrashed about, trying to free himself, his gaze shifting to his clothes, lying in a crumpled pile on the other side of the room. Gaius narrowed his eyes. "If you're plannin' to make a dash over there for your belt, get your pokemon, you shouldn't bother. I took them before you woke up. Your pokemon are now my pokemon."

Dixie threw up one of his legs, kicking Gaius in the groin. The older boy grunted and half staggered back, his grip on Dixie loosening for a moment. Dixie took the opportunity to break away. He sprinted for the door as Gaius swung his knife at him, slashing him across the back, but only cutting him superficially. He ran to the door and pulled it open, only to come face-to-face with a snarling granbull. With a frightened yelp, Dixie slammed the door closed again and turned toward the window. Dodging Gaius' attempt to catch him, he ran to it and made to open it, but outside Quenelle and a houndoom were standing guard.

Gaius grabbed Dixie roughly by the neck and slammed him, face-first, against the wall. The older boy pressed his body against Dixie, pinning him roughly, and held his knife flat against Dixie's throat. "I told you, didn't I?" he snarled, pressing harder against Dixie to the point it was getting hard to the Rocket to breathe. "I told you I'd kill you if you ever hurt a hair on my baby brother's head, and that's just what I'm gonna do."

"P-please—"

"Shut up," said Gaius, slamming Dixie's head into the wall. Dixie began to tremble and sob. "Stop that. Have some pride; die like a man."

"But I don't want to die!" said Dixie through his tears.

"Well that's really not up to you, is it?" said Gaius, pressing the blade of his knife a little harder against Dixie's throat. Gaius smirked as Dixie quivered beneath him. He slid the knife away from Dixie's throat, tracing a slow path with the point of it all the way down Dixie's body to the outside of his thigh. "There were two of you, attacked Arden. Who was the other one, hm?"

Dixie, still wracked with sobs, said nothing. Gaius plunged the tip of the knife into the muscular part of his leg, and he cried out. "See what happens when you don't cooperate?" said Gaius. "Now let's hear it—his name, where I can find him."

"N-no."

Gaius pushed the knife all the way into Dixie's leg. The young Rocket howled with pain. "St-stanislaus!" he said, when he was able to say anything at all. "His name is Wolf Stanislaus!"

"And where could I find this Wolf Stanislaus?" asked Gaius, twisting the blade a little bit.

"I d—I don't know! H-he was here, bu-but he left!"

"Left for where?"

"I don't know!" said Dixie, still crying. "He j-just asked some questions abou—oh, god! Arden!"

"What?" said Gaius, scowling and twisting the knife some more. "What about him?"

"I th-think he's gone to find Arden!"

"Shit," said Gaius, pulling his switchblade from Dixie's leg with a spurt of blood. "I have to get to Cinnabar and protect him—he'd better still be there."

Releasing Dixie, he rushed to the door, calling back hastily. "This isn't the last of this, kiddo," he said as he opened the door and rushed past the granbull outside. "Adolphus, quickly." The granbull turned and rushed away after him.

Naked and trembling, covered in his own blood and tears, Dixie sank to the floor. His entire body was a quivering mass of agony and humiliation. He was disgusted with himself for being so weak, for giving in to Gaius so easily, and for giving in to Stanislaus so easily. He was disgusted with himself for everything. He picked up the bed sheet from the ground and began to wrap it around his leg as a makeshift bandage. Sniffing away the last of his tears, he watched as he bled through it, staining the white bandage dark red. _'Oh well,'_ he thought. _'It was unclean to begin with.'_

And there he was, alone—only his self-loathing to keep him company.

He hadn't been alone since the day he'd gotten Nathair.

He didn't like being alone.

Alone.

No one to care.

The silence.

He was drowning in it; the silence was wrapped around his throat and pouring thickly into his lungs.

Alone.

Without realizing it, Dixie had begun to cry anew. Every part of him was pain—his face, his leg, his throat, his arms, his ribs. His soul. He was weak and he was pathetic. Not only one, but two people he loved were in trouble. Because of him, they were in trouble. And all he could to was to sit and weep like a child and let it go on while there was the distinct possibility one of them would be killed. Maybe both of them. And yet there he was, doing nothing.

"I don't want this," he mumbled into the emptiness. "I don't want to be someone who lets people he loves get hurt."

Bracing himself against the wall, Dixie stood. A pain shot through his thigh, causing him to collapse and cry out. "N-no," he said, staggering to his feet once more. He gritted his teeth against the pain until it dulled somewhat. "No. I want to be someone who protects the people I love—whether or not they love me."

He moved carefully to his clothes and got dressed. It was as Gaius claimed; he had taken Dixie's pokemon. Solemnly, Dixie buckled his belt around his waist, noting how it had never felt so light as it did now. Bracing himself against whatever he could to support himself, he left the bedroom and went to the set of drawers where he knew Stanislaus kept his extra pokemon. Dixie also knew he kept another pokemon, which was not his, there, in its own drawer.

Kneeling down with great difficulty, Dixie opened the drawer. The pokeball rolled into view, atop a bunch of envelopes, made to accompany cute stationary. In the looping, delicate hand of a woman, 'Wolfie' had been scrawled across the fronts of most of them, right beside the faded imprint of a woman's lips in cherry-colored lipstick. Dixie clipped the pokeball to his belt and closed the drawer. It was the first time he'd seen the letters, and he tried not to care about them. After taking a few more pokeballs from another drawer, he staggered out the door.

_**A/N:** I'm sorry that the chapters have become such downers--this one in particular. I'm thinking the next poll I'll have to put up on my profile will be something along the lines of 'which chapter of this story is most depressing?' ...sorry, again._


	70. Pokemon Mansion II

Gimpy sighed and rubbed his leg with one thick hand, wondering what was taking Arden so long. Surely, the blastoise thought, he couldn't have found that old, burned out building to be this interesting? He flattened his little ears and frowned, wondering if he should be worried about it. With another sigh, he glanced around at the quaint buildings surrounding him.

Immediately, a familiar black uniform caught his eye. Retreating partially into his shell to make himself smaller, Gimpy watched as Stanislaus, his stantler in tow, spoke with a couple of town people. Gimpy strained his ears, but he could not hear what was being said. After a moment, Stanislaus turned and started toward the mansion with Adalhelm trotting along at his heels. Gimpy's stomach dropped and he stood up. As fast as he could manage, he limped down the street, trying to find a way to get to Arden before the Rocket grunt could.

Within the mansion, Arden sat with Cruelty, watching the waves beat against the beach far below. "…so we argued back and forth for a while," Arden was telling the raichu. "And finally she bet me that I couldn't get close enough to Quenelle to pull one of his tails. This was back when Quen was my mom's pokemon; he wasn't nearly so mellow then. He didn't like any of us much. So Felicia and I went out to where Quen was milling around, and I start sneaking up behind him. And as I'm sneaking up to him, Gaius comes out of the house and sees me doing this and he come running up just as I grab hold of one of Quenelle's tails. He grabs me and pulls me away as Quenelle kicks out, and he gets a hoof right in the nose. Well, Quenelle goes galloping off, all startled, and Gaius has blood streaming down his face and he turns to me and smacks me in the ear and, with a broken nose, he starts lecturing me. But I was laughing the whole time, because every time he breathed out through his nose it whistled."

"Raiii," said Cruelty, flicking his tail back and forth.

Arden glanced at his tail and frowned. "It's broken right there, isn't it?" he asked, gingerly putting his fingers near the obvious kink in the raichu's tail. Cruelty moved a little bit away from him. "If it hurts you tell me, alright?"

Cruelty looked downwards and said nothing, prompting Arden to poke him in the side. "Hey—I said, if it hurts that you should tell me. Alright?"

"Rai."

"Good," said Arden. There was a creaking sound on the stairs behind him and he turned his head toward it. "Eh? I wonder if that burglar guy came back…?"

Stanislaus became visible on the stairs and Arden paled and scrambled to his feet. "Shit," he said as Cruelty turned to look. "How the hell did he even find me?!"

Cruelty arched his back and flattened his ears as Stanislaus stepped off the stairs with Adalhelm close behind. Baring his teeth, the raichu growled and stepped in front of Arden as Adalhelm lowered his head. For a moment, the two parties stared at each other, the air thick with hostility and the anticipation of bloodshed. They were still, each weighing the pros and cons of making the first move. Finally, it was Stanislaus who attacked first. "Adalhelm! Shadow ball!"

As a dark blast issued forth from Adalhelm's antlers, Cruelty pushed Arden sideways, out of the range of the attack. The raichu took the full force of Adalhelm's attack himself, knocking him backwards, almost over the edge of the building. At the last moment, Cruelty was able to dig in his claws and save himself. He lunged forward, cheek sparking, without awaiting an order. The raichu dove onto the stantler's face, clawing and spitting, and then, in only a moment, they were on the ground thrashing about, exchanging brutal blows. Adalhelm jabbed his sharp hooves into Cruelty's sides, breaking one of his ribs with a groaning 'crunch'. "Cruelty!" yelled Arden. With a flash from his belt, Thief emerged of his own accord from his pokeball and went running to the raichu's aid. The persian leapt onto the stantler's back, biting hard at one of the pokemon's ears and digging his nails into his flesh.

Stanislaus threw out another pokeball. "Conrade!" he yelled as a dewgong appeared from the pokeball. "That boy—ice beam!"

Arden dodged out of the way as the blast of ice hit the wall behind him, freezing it solid. He threw out a pokeball, calling, "Gentry! Go!"

"Ran!" called the pokemon as he appeared. Immediately the nidoran was struck with another chilly blast from the enemy, which sent him skidding along the ground and knocked his everstone off.

"Gentry!" said Arden, running toward him.

"Nii!" Gentry shouted, getting to his feet and flattening his ears. He was telling Arden to stay back, and the boy did. Gentry got to his feet and ran toward the dewgong. Conrade let out another ice beam, striking Gentry once again. Arden gritted his teeth and threw out another pokeball.

"Fang, help Gentry!"

"Tsk, tsk," said Stanislaus as the crobat entered the fray. The rocket stepped around the fighting pokemon and began advancing on Arden. "Two-on-one fights aren't fair. Now, you've done that twice." He held up two of his own pokeballs. "Should I demonstrate to you just how unfair that is? Ellis, Sarah!"

An enormous ursaring and a bulky donphan appeared before him. Arden staggered back as the pokemon advanced on him. Fang and Gentry and Cruelty and Thief all had their hands full as it was, and he couldn't expect them to help with these two as well. That left him with only Prometheus to guard him. Arden touched the cyndaquil's pokeball. Was it worth it to put him in danger on the slim chance that this might be the single battle he tried to actually fight?

Arden moved his hand away from the pokeball and raised up his fists. Stanislaus leaned back slightly and said, "You plan to fist fight my pokemon? How absurd." But there was no fear in Arden's eyes. Stanislaus narrowed his eye and shrugged. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter. I'd have preferred you to curl up and beg for mercy, but either way you die, right? I shouldn't be so picky."

The Rocket's pokemon shifted their feet in anticipation. Finally, he gave the order. "Sarah!" he called. "Break him in two!"

The donphan charged and Arden hunched his shoulder in anticipation. All at once his mind was a million thoughts. Would it hurt badly, or would he die before that? Would he be crushed by it, or would he be thrown backwards? If he was thrown backwards, would he go through the wall, or would he just hit it and fall to the ground? Most of all, he thought of how he was about to die the exact same way his father had, and just on the heels of his funeral.

Just before the donphan reached him, a bolt of lightning struck in its path, forcing it to turn away at the last moment. Arden's eyes widened and he looked around. "Cruelty?" he said. His eyes widened as he saw a tauros at the top of the stairs. "Quenelle!"

Gaius appeared behind the tauros. "Get the fuck away from my brother."

Stanislaus turned to look at Gaius, his eye narrowing to a cruel slit. "I've seen that jacket before," he murmured. It was all he said before spinning around toward Gaius. "Ellis—make that tauros bleed."

The ursaring turned and flew at Quenelle, his movements light and swift. With a ringing clatter, the two massive pokemon came together and began a brutal brawl. Gaius took a few careful steps toward Stanislaus, who stared at him icily. "Well," said Stanislaus. "Come on, big boy. What're you gonna do with all the muscle?"

"I'm gonna crush every bone in your body is what I'm gonna do."

"Ooooh," said Stanislaus, putting his hands on his hips. "You promise?"

Sarah dug one foot into the ground, turning toward Arden. Quickly, Gaius grabbed a pokeball from his belt and tossed it. With a flash of light, a sandslash appeared and dashed in-between Arden and the donphan. Stanislaus' eye widened. "Br-bruno?!" he said. "That's Bruno—that's Dixie's pokemon!"

The color drained from his face as he wheeled around, back toward Gaius. "What did you do to my Dixie?!" he said. "You bastard, if you've hurt him—"

"I did hurt him. I hurt him a lot," said Gaius. "Whacha wanna do about it, guy?"

"I want to kill you."

Gaius grinned. "Is that right?" he asked, rolling a pokeball around in his hand.

"That's right," said Stanislaus, holding up one of his own pokeballs.

Simultaneously, they tossed them out. A wall of light filled the room, and when it cleared away Stanislaus' magmar and Gaius' granbull were locked together in battle. In front of Arden, Sarah and Bruno were also exchanging blows. Arden looked around, at all the pokemon fighting one another viciously. Cruelty and Thief were huddled beside each other, trying their hardest against Adalhelm and still loosing. Stanislaus' dewgong had left Fang in a broken heap and was working on doing the same to Gentry. Quenelle and the ursaring he was fighting were both bleeding heavily, and the former had lost part of one horn. Arden watched all this, wordlessly. He had never felt so helpless.

In front of him, the donphan hit Bruno hard, knocking him backwards into Arden. The force of the blow sent Arden flying back, rolling across the ground. He smacked against the wall, hard, and its old boards gave way, dropping Arden down.

Down.

Down.

Down.

Down.

Toward the jagged rocks.

Down.

Down.

Down.

Toward the cold ocean.

Down.

Down.

Toward death.

"Father," whispered Arden, closing his eyes as the ground came toward him faster and faster.

Down.


	71. Pokemon Mansion III

Down.

Down.

Down.

The air rushing through his hair, ruffling his clothes.

Down.

Down.

The scenery rushing by him at blurry speeds, and he was afraid to look at the rocks and water approaching him so fast.

Down.

And suddenly, a flash of orange. Something caught him and held him tightly to its body. He was no longer falling. Cradled against the chest of some large pokemon, he was going upward. He looked up and saw that he was in the arms of some great dragon pokemon which he had never before seen. "Are you going to eat me?" Arden asked quietly.

"Gon," said the pokemon, laughing good-naturedly. It brought him back up to the second floor of the mansion and set him down, there, gingerly.

Stanislaus took a couple staggering steps toward the pokemon. "S-Sevim," he murmured. "Sevim's dragonite…?"

The dragonite turned its giant face toward him and smiled. "Draaagon."

There was the sound of lopsided footsteps on the stairs and Stanislaus turned around as Dixie limped to the top of them. Stanislaus rushed to the younger Rocket grunt. "Dixie! Your face! You're all covered in blood!"

He grabbed Dixie by the chin and lightly touched his nose. Dixie recoiled. "It—it's broken," he said. "Please don't touch it."

"Hold on," said Stanislaus. "I'm going to straighten it. If you don't put it back straight, it's just going to heal like that. This is going to hurt, so hold very still."

With a thud, Ellis fell to the ground, beaten by Quenelle. Gaius put his hand on the pokemon's head. " 'atta boy, Quen," he said quietly. "Now go get 'em while they're both together."

The tauros charged. "Dixie!" Arden cried out, his eyes widening. Both Rockets turned to see Gaius' pokemon bearing down on them. Stanislaus grabbed Dixie by the shoulders and pulled him close, putting his own body between him and the tauros as a shield. Swiftly, Stanislaus' dewgong rushed between Quenelle and his master, taking the hit and stopping the pokemon's charge. The dewgong fell to the ground limply as Quenelle shook the unexpected impact from his head. With a flash of light, Gentry evolved into a nidorino beside Arden. "Gaius! Stop it! Don't hurt them!"

"I'm protecting you," said Gaius. "Quenelle!"

The dragonite who had caught Arden and had been, since, standing silently behind him, rushed forward past him. The dragonite hit Quenelle from the side as he turned to attack Dixie and Stanislaus, knocking the tauros back. Stanislaus held Dixie tightly against himself. "You shouldn't have come," he said. "It's dangerous here."

"I can't let you hurt Arden, or get hurt yourself," said Dixie, pulling away from him. "Please—stop this."

Arden yelled at Gaius, "Knock this off! Stop trying to protect me! I never asked you to!"

"You'll thank me for this some day," Gaius said. "And even if you never come around, it won't matter because you'll be safe."

"I was safe to begin with!"

"Like hell you were," said Gaius, looking at his little brother sharply. "You'd have been dead if I hadn't got here when I did."

"I would've been fine!" said Arden, stamping his foot. "I can take care of myself. The trouble I make is my own to deal with! Stop this!"

"You're just a kid," Gaius said. "Someone's got to protect you, even if you hate them for it. Even if you hate me for it."

"He ruined my eye," Stanislaus said to Dixie. "Something like that—I can't just let it go."

"I see," said Dixie. "So, then, revenge is more important to you than I am."

Stanislaus looked at him silently.

"If that's the case, and you won't just leave this be," said Dixie. "Then I… I understand. But I'm not going to let you hurt him. Never."

"Then _he _is more important to _you _than I am?"

Dixie shook his head. "No. But that doesn't mean I don't care about him, and just because I care more about you doesn't mean I'll stand by and watch you hurt someone I love."

Stanislaus looked from Dixie to Arden with his sharp, blue eye. Forcing his breath sharply out of his nostrils he looked back to Dixie. "Is that so?" he said.

"That's the way it is," said Dixie firmly.

"Then… my eye means nothing to me," said Stanislaus. "It… means nothing to me."

"You're not going to hurt him?"

"I'm not going to hurt him."

"Never?"

"Never."

With a clatter, Stanislaus' magmar fell to the ground, defeated by Gaius' granbull. "Good," said Gaius. "Adolphus, those Rockets—get them, no matter what."

"Bull!" shouted the granbull, lunging toward them. Stanislaus' hand shot to his belt immediately, but before he could get to it, Bruno leapt between the Rocket grunts and the granbull. Adolphus grabbed the sandslash by the throat and threw him hard into the ground without missing a beat. Stanislaus threw his pokeball to release his pokemon, but Adolphus caught it and hurled it away.

"Dixie!" yelled Arden, sprinting toward the pair. Thief and Cruelty ran after him, with a gravely wounded Adalhelm behind them. Adolphus raised his fist to strike Arden away, and Gaius cried out. Arden closed his eyes and covered his face with one arm, flinching expectantly.

But the strike never came. There was a yelp and a clatter, instead, and when Arden opened his eyes, he saw that the granbull had been knocked away. Blinking, the boy glanced around and saw Gimpy at the top of the stairs, his cannons withdrawing into his shell. Arden sighed and went to him, hugging him around the middle as tightly as he could. "I take it back," he said. "I don't wish I'd left you tied up in a forest somewhere."

Gimpy flattened his ears, as he could never recall such a thing having ever been said. All the same, he patted the top of his trainer's head in acknowledgement of his kind sentiment.

Gaius recalled Adolphus into his pokeball silently. There was no more fighting around him. All the pokemon were battered and still, no longer willing to fight each other unless to protect their trainers. Silence and anxiety was thick in the air about them all. Gaius looked at Arden and then at the two Rockets holding each other tightly. Touching Quenelle's head softly, he started toward the stairs, and the tauros followed him.

"Just like that?" murmured Stanislaus.

Dixie frowned. "He took my pokemon with him," he said. "Except Bruno… Bruno—are you alright?"

"Saaand," murmured Bruno, getting up slowly.

Stanislaus glanced at Dixie. "You were wearing his jacket before," he said. "Why was that? Did you and that guy—"

"No, of course not," said Dixie, his face reddening.

"You don't have to lie if you did," mumbled Stanislaus, going to Adalhelm and kneeling beside him. "I'd understand if you did; it's not like I'm incapable of understanding or anything…"

Arden started down the stairs. "A—arden," said Dixie, looking up. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to catch up with Gaius," said Arden. "To leave so suddenly… Besides, if he has your pokemon, you should have them back. Your pokemon are your friends, and it's not right for him to take them. You always look so lonely, anyway;— I can't imagine how much lonelier you must be without them."

He headed down the stairs and, one by one, his pokemon followed him, as though their injuries didn't weigh on them at all. Dixie watched him go. "He's different than he was," he mumbled. "I wonder if some of that's my fault…?"

"This wouldn't have even been a problem if he'd just joined Team Rocket," said Stanislaus.

"That was my fault, as well…"

"Hey," said Stanislaus, grabbing Dixie's chin. "Stop blaming yourself for everything. I hate it when you do that. Now, here, let me straighten your nose for you."

"Nng—gently, gently!"

"There's no way to _do_ this gently."

"Isn't this something I should see a doctor for?"

"Stop moving!"

"Sorry—gah! Don't touch it! That hurts!"

"Stop moving!"

"There's no need to be so rough!"

"But Dixie—you told me you liked it that way!"

"Geh—this isn't a very appropriate time or place for jokes like that—gah!"

"There. See, now? Was that so bad?"

"Gah! Gaaah! It's worse than when it got broken! Gah!"

"…though, yes. This _is_ probably the sort of thing you should take to a doctor."


	72. Cinnabar Island IV

Arden saw the decrepit doors of the mansion close as he reached the bottom of the stairs. He rushed toward them and threw them open. Gaius was walking along the path, toward the town proper, with Quenelle beside him. "Gaius!" shouted Arden. His big brother stopped, but did not turn around. Arden reached him and stood silently, staring at the back of his brother's jacket. Quenelle turned to look at Arden, and his eyes were sad.

"Gaius," said Arden again.

Gaius' shoulders were stiff and his whole posture was unwelcoming. "Yeah?" he asked without turning around. He said the word as though it were the hardest thing in the world to say—as though the word were stuck in his throat, refusing to come out.

Arden scowled. "So, what—you're going to go away without a word and when I stop you, you won't even look at me?"

His shoulders slumping ever so minutely, Gaius turned his face slightly to his younger brother. "What?"

Arden wasn't used to being spoken in such short terms by his brother, and was slightly taken aback. "H-hey, don't say things like that to me—so brief and unsociable," he murmured. "And what do you think that was about? Just leaving like that, without a word? You didn't even apologize. You hurt all those pokemon and you broke Dixie's nose and you didn't apologize."

Gaius turned his face away again. "Did you like Dixie's nose?" he asked after a moment.

"I… guess. I don't really understand the question—"

"Then I'm glad I broke it," said Gaius, shoving his hands into his pockets. "He had it coming, anyway. Going around everywhere, looking like a hurt child. He's got an ugly heart and people with ugly hearts should have faces to match. It's only right."

"Hey, don't you talk that way about Dixie. Dixie's my friend."

"This is why I never let you have friends. You're bad at choosing them."

Arden glared at his brother's broad back. "You think you can say things like that just because you're my big brother?"

"I think I can say things like that because I care about you. Whether you like it or not. Whether you like _me _or not."

"Well you can't say things like that," spat Arden. "And if you actually cared, you'd let me live my own damn life and make my own mistakes!"

Gaius lowered his face. "I can't do that," he said. "If I do, you might get hurt. I don't want you to get hurt, ever." He turned around to face his little brother, and Arden could see that he was crying. "And then, all at once, I realized just now that I'm hurting you. You could have died just now, and I would've been the one to cause it. And that's unforgivable."

"Gaius…"

"It makes me sick—physically sick—to think of you ever getting hurt," continued Gaius. "And then… and then I realize, you are hurt and I'm the one who's hurting you. Every friend you might've had, I always ran off 'cause I was afraid for you. I can't stand the thought of someone ever breakin' your heart. You had no one and I was… I was glad, because you didn't have anyone but me. And I went right on tryin' to protect you from every one and everything without thinkin' 'bout it and when you said that you didn't need my help I just ignored you and I told myself 'he's just a kid. He doesn't know what's good for him and what isn't.' But that's not right. That was selfish and wrong and it makes me positively sick."

He rubbed the back of his head and turned his eyes toward the ground. "I'm sorry," he said. "I've been treatin' you bad. I'm sorry, and I don't deserve to be forgiven and… and I don't want to be forgiven either. Because even if you forgive me, it's not gonna make that alright. You suffered all this time 'cause I'm a selfish prick. Nothin' in the whole world can make that okay. I'm sorry, Arden."

Arden frowned. "I'm not mad at you," he said.

"Well you should be," said Gaius. "I tried so hard to keep you all to myself I… I hurt you so much." He turned away. "I'm gonna go see Elara, and then I'm headin' back to Johto. From now on, I'm gonna let you live your own life and let you make your own mistakes. Take care of yourself, bab—Arden."

Arden rushed forward and hugged his brother tightly around the waist, burying his face in Gaius' long leather jacket. Gaius reached back and ran his hand slowly through his little brother's hair. "Just… just watch out for yourself, 'kay, Arden?" Gaius could feel Arden nodding against his back. "You stay out of trouble, alright?" Arden nodded again and hugged his brother tighter. Gaius smiled down at the boy. "You're going to need to let go of me, Arden, or else I can't go…"

"I don't want you to go," said Arden, his voice muffled by Gaius' jacket. "Not like this—not all sad."

With a slight resistance from the younger brother, Gaius pulled out of the hug. He turned around and, kneeling one knee, Gaius pulled Arden to himself and hugged him tightly around the shoulders. Quenelle watched the two of them, his eyes smiling. "Take care, Arden," Gaius said softly. He released Arden and stood. With a nod to his tauros, Gaius started away once again. Hesitantly, Gimpy put his hand on Arden's shoulder.

Arden looked at the blastoise, and then at the rest of his pokemon, standing beyond, despite their injuries. "You guys…" he murmured, his voice wavering somewhat. Suddenly his eyes widened and he turned back around. "Gaius! Wait!"

Gaius paused and turned back. "Yeah?"

"Dixie's pokemon," said Arden. "I came out here to get them."

"Oh," said Gaius, digging into his pocket and pulling out four pokeballs. He tossed them one by one to Arden. "Give him my apologies. That other guy, too, I guess."

Arden nodded as Gaius walked on. Turning back to his pokemon, Arden sighed. "I almost forgot about these," he said. "That would've been embarrassing…"

He glanced at Thief and Cruelty who were licking each other's wounds and Fang, who was laying on Gentry's back, apparently unable to fly. "You guys…" murmured Arden. "You fought so hard… Now you're all hurt because of me. I'm sorry, guys. I'm sorry you guys have to get hurt because I'm not a good trainer."

"Chaaa," said Cruelty, shrugging as Thief bit on his ear softly. Narrowing his eyes, he smacked the persian's nose with one stubby hand. "Raiiicha."

Gentry put one paw on Arden's foot and looked up at him. "Niiido. Rino."

"You guys… Even though I don't understand what you say," Arden said, winding one arm around Gimpy's and petting Gentry's nose. "Something about the _way _you say stuff makes me feel hopeful. For your sakes, I'm going to keep trying."

"Blastoise," said Gimpy. If Arden had looked at the blastoise then, he would've seen him looking the happiest he ever had. But Arden didn't look.

"Alright," said Arden. "I guess I'll go take Dixie's pokemon back to him and then… we can all go get ice cream or something."

Fang looked up weakly at the mention of ice cream. "Crooooo," he said, flapping his wings feebly.

"You like sweet things?" asked Arden. The pokemon nodded. "Huh. That's something I never knew about you." He let go of Gimpy's arm and started back toward the mansion. The pokemon made to follow him, but he stopped and motioned for them to stay behind. "You're all pretty beat up. You guys should rest here. I'm only gonna be a minute, okay? Wait here."

The pokemon did as they were told and watched him go. "Do you think that's alright?" mumbled Gentry to the others. "Letting him go back there alone? What if those Rockets attack him…"

"They won't," said Gimpy.

"You sure?" asked Fang, laying limply across Gentry's back.

"I don't think that Dixie, at least, is a bad person," said Gimpy. "So if it came to that, I think he'd protect Arden."

"Arden protected _him_," said Gentry. "It'd only be right…"

"I don't think that's how it works," Fang muttered.

"Bruno isn't a bad pokemon," said Thief. "I spoke to him before. He's a… he's a good guy."

"You like him too much," said Cruelty. Thief bit down on his ear. "I said to knock that off!" The raichu smacked Thief's face again.

"But you're so tame now!" said Thief, rubbing his cheek against Cruelty's and grinning. "So tame! Where did all your barbarian's passion go?"

Cruelty narrowed his eyes. "I'm about to passion you right in the teeth," he growled.

"Oooh?" said Thief. "I'd like to see this! Your passion in my teeth—why that sounds slightly indecent, actually."

"Thief, stop trying to rile him up," sighed Gimpy, grabbing Thief by the ear.

"Nyaaaa! That hurts!" said Thief. "Let go!"

"Stop riling Cruelty up and I'll let you go," said Gimpy.

"But he's gotten so tame!" said Thief, looking at the raichu with clear amusement. Cruelty stared back at him flatly. "You've gotten so tame!"

"It—it is kind of true," mumbled Gentry meekly. Cruelty glared at the nidorino. "I-I-I like it though. I like you—er, I like you better now. B-but I did before. …please don't hurt me."

Cruelty snorted and crossed his stout little arms.

"It's because of when he went away to train," said Fang.

"Oh, yeah," said Gentry. "He got special training. …I want special training. How was it? Was it fun? Did you meet interesting pokemon?"

"Of course it wasn't fun," growled Cruelty. "He kept whipping me and then he didn't understand why I kept attacking him."

Thief bit down softly on Cruelty's ear, and was once again smacked in the nose. "You're so mean to me, Cruelty," said Thief, putting his paws on the raichu's shoulders and pushing him down. "But you know I love you any way."

"Mean to you? You're the one who's pushing him down and biting him," mumbled Gimpy. Gentry nodded in agreement.

"Hey," said Fang, sitting up. "Do you think Arden will really get us ice cream, or was that just one of those things he says—you know, the way he says things sometimes that are completely unprovoked and never come to pass?"

The pokemon were silent. Finally Gentry said, "He sounded serious."

"He sounded like he was joking," said Cruelty. "He just delivers jokes dryly."

"I think it's a moot point," Gimpy told them flatly. "After all, have any of you ever seen an ice cream parlor anywhere? There aren't any."

The pokemon were silent.

"I wanted ice cream," murmured Fang after some time.

"I want barbequed eel," said Gentry.

"I want that cake with the little strawberry slices in the icing," said Thief.

"I want aspirin," said Gimpy, putting one hand over his eyes and sighing.


	73. Pokemon Mansion IV

Dixie leaned against Stanislaus. "What's wrong?" asked Stanislaus.

"Nothing, nothing," mumbled Dixie. "It's just hurting a bit to stand, now. My leg got hurt."

"How hurt?"

"It's alright," said Dixie.

"Strip down, let me see," said Stanislaus, furrowing his eyebrows. Dixie unzipped his uniform and let it fall to the floor. His makeshift bandage had been soaked through with blood, and Stanislaus knelt to take a look as Dixie held onto his shoulders to steady himself. Pulling off his gloves, Stanislaus gingerly touched the bandage. "What's this?"

"It's the sheet from your bed," said Dixie.

Stanislaus made a sour look. "You wrapped _that _around your open wound?" he said. "You'll get an infection that way."

"I didn't know if you had any proper bandages around, it was the only thing in reach…"

Stanislaus unwrapped the bed sheet from Dixie's leg and set it aside. He reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a small first aid kit. "Still, you could've tried to something that hadn't just been covered with sweat and spit and whatnot… It's a good thing I've got alcohol in here," he said. He opened the bottle and, pouring some of the contents onto a clean cloth, began to rub at the wound. He glanced up, briefly, at the dragonite who was watching them from a distance. "About _him_…"

"I'm sorry," said Dixie, wincing as Stanislaus cleaned his wound. "All my pokemon were gone so I took some of yours…"

"If you have _him_, then you saw the letters?"

"Yes," said Dixie. "I didn't read them, though."

"Do you want to know who sent them?"

Dixie hesitated. "No."

"Are you just saying that?"

"…yes."

Stanislaus put the alcohol and cloth back in his first aid kit and pulled out some gauze. "They were from a woman I used to know," he said. "The dragonite belonged to her, as well."

"I see," said Dixie.

"Her name was Sevim," Stanislaus went on quietly. "She was someone I met when I was a little kid, and she was the one who brought me into Team Rocket. She was a person with a beautiful heart who cared deeply about everyone. She sent me letters all the time when she was away from the base. I loved her very dearly, but I was never in a position to tell her so… And then she died. That was a number of years before we met."

"Oh, I see…"

Stanislaus looked up at him and smiled. "Do you remember when we met, Dixie?" he asked. "I might've just passed you by, then, except that you reminded me of her. The way you hugged that pokemon to yourself like it was the most important thing in the world… it was the sort of thing she would've done. You speak like her, too—you always say things in the kindest way possible. You even look like her, a little… Your noses were the same. The same straight, symmetrical nose. Though, I suppose not any more."

Dixie touched his bloodied and broken and readjusted nose lightly, frowning.

"I guess if I had to say," Stanislaus continued. "The only reason I noticed you, to begin with, was because of your resemblance to Sevim. She'd died years before we met, and all the love I had for her, unreleased, had turned into poison in my heart. Every thing which drew me to you was what reminded me of her. You're very similar. Most of the time, I look at you and think of her. But you're not her. And every now and then it hits me that you're never going to be, and I get angry and my heart fills up with bile.

"I love you for being like her, and I hate you for the fact that you're different from her, as well. I get angry because… because it's almost like being teased. It's as though some higher power made someone who I would love more than anything else, and then purposely tore them away from me before I was ever able to tell them. And then, that power gave me someone else who was the same in so many ways, but then, to drive home the point that I would never get to see the person I love most ever again, made you different in that many more ways. Just so that every time I forget you're not her, you remind me. And I get so angry. Something like that's not fair, is it? That's what I think. It's not fair. You should either be completely like her or you should be completely different. Anything else is too painful."

Dixie wasn't sure what he should say. Finally, he settled on, "I'm sorry."

"It's not like it's your fault," mumbled Stanislaus as he finished putting the clean bandages on his lover's wound. He stood up slowly and Dixie pulled his uniform back on. "I just felt that it was something you might like to know. Or, rather, that I might like to say."

"Do you feel better having said it?"

"Not in the least."

Arden emerged on the stairs, holding up Dixie's pokeballs. "I got them back," he announced proudly.

Stanislaus glanced back over his shoulder at the boy. "Have you been crying? Your face is all red…"

Handing the balls to Dixie, Arden said, "Gaius told me to give you both his apologies. For trying to kill you, I guess. I don't know. It seems like the sort of thing you should apologize for in person, but I guess he was busy."

Dixie clipped the pokeballs to his belt. "I'm just glad everyone's safe," he said.

"That Gaius character, his pokemon were impressive," said Stanislaus. "He was an interesting sort of person, I think."

Arden made a sort of noncommittal mumble and turned to leave. "Eh—Arden," said Dixie quickly. He turned back around.

"Yes?"

"I was thinking about Mahogany town a bit—I'm sorry about that, by the way," said Dixie. "I was thinking about what you said then. That you didn't want to join Team Rocket because you didn't want to be a bad person. I was wondering, then, if… if I'm a bad person?"

Arden rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. "Jeez, I dunno," he mumbled. "I mean… I just don't know that. You helped me a lot, and it didn't seem like it. But then it turned out you just wanted to make me join Team Rocket. I dunno—I mean, I barely know you at all, right? You don't seem like a bad person, but at the same time… you're a Rocket. I don't know—I don't know."

Dixie lowered his face. "I see."

"I don't think it's right to say that the very fact he's in Team Rocket makes Dixie a bad person," said Stanislaus, narrowing his eye at Arden. "Some of us never had a choice. For some of us, the only choice for survival was not pretty and clean."

Arden looked up at him. "No, I guess not," he said. "But if you don't like being in Team Rocket—either of you—why don't you just quit?"

"Eh, well…" said Dixie, scratching his chin. "It's just not a very valid option… I mean, a criminal organization isn't like a department store—you can't just give them your two weeks notice and expect them to just let you go."

"Even if it were, for my own part I was practically raised by Team Rocket," said Stanislaus. "Up and leaving would be rather ungrateful, wouldn't it? And it's not as though either of us has skills in other areas."

"Then you're resigned to that life," said Arden with a shrug. He looked to Dixie. "And if that's the case, that it's the only choice that you have, does it matter if you're a bad person because of it?"

"I think it does."

"Well good and bad are sort of meaningless, aren't they, if they weren't your choices to begin with?" said Arden. He turned away. "I have to go—my pokemon are waiting for me outside. I'll be seein' ya."

Dixie frowned and watched him go. As the boy reached the stairs Dixie called out, "Arden! Wait up!" Arden paused as Dixie limped over to him, and the two descended the stairs together, with Bruno following behind them.

Stanislaus watched them go silently, feeling very hollowed out. After a while he stuck his hand in his pockets and looked toward the clear blue sky and the glimmering ocean outside of the busted shell of a building. "So you lied to me then, Dixie," he said quietly, into the vast emptiness. "You _do _love him more than me."

He bit his bottom lip until the urge to cry had left him completely. "Good for you," he whispered. "We're no good for one another anyway…"

He knew that was true, but he wondered why it didn't seem to help at all.


	74. Arden's Flashback

The early summer air was warm in Goldenrod, even in the early morning. Arden woke up early. The house was quiet when he crept from his room, and he thought he was the only one awake. Silently, he made his way down the hallway, into the dim living room. Arden carefully reached for the doorknob on the front door.

"Hey, kiddo," came his father's voice behind him, and he froze. "Whatcha up to?"

Arden turned around sheepishly toward his father, who he hadn't noticed at all, sitting silently at the dining table in the semi-darkness of early morning. "Nothing," said Arden, clasping his hands together behind his back. Taylor Blake smiled at the child. Even at such a young age, Arden was the spitting image of his father. If you had seen the two beside each other, there would have been no doubt at all in your mind that they were father and son.

"Is that a fact?" said Taylor, taking a drink of coffee. He nodded his head toward the door. "You got somewhere to be, kiddo? If you've got an appointment, by all means, keep it."

"Nu-uh, Papa," said Arden, walking to the table. He rested his chin on it and looked up at the face of his smiling father. "Are you leaving today?"

"Yup," said Taylor.

Arden sat down on the chair across from his father. "Why?" he asked, kicking his feet back and forth. "Why do you always have to go?"

"Because that's my job," said Taylor, setting down his coffee cup. "You know what your papa does for a living, right?"

Arden shook his head and then, reconsidering said, "You're a pokemon trainer?"

"Close, but not quite," said Taylor. "I'm a Pokemon Ranger. Do you know what that means?"

Arden shook his head again.

"Well, I keep Johto safe," said Taylor. "Me and Rip go all around the region helping people and protecting them from wild pokemon."

"Why do they need to be protected?"

"Because human beings are very fragile," said Taylor. "You know that word? Fragile? It's something that breaks easily. You remember that time you and your brother were fighting in the house and you knocked over your mom's glass ponyta statue?"

Arden nodded. "I got yelled at."

"That's because that little glass ponyta was fragile," Taylor said. "It didn't take very much to break it, did it? Well, people are the same way. Not every one has a pokemon that can protect them, so people like me do it."

"That makes you a hero, doesn't it?" asked Arden, admiration in his eyes.

Taylor smiled. "Well," he said sheepishly. "…yeah, I guess it does."

"That's amazing!" said little Arden kicking out his feet. He paused. "But, what about the pokemon? Why do they hurt people?"

"They don't mean to," Taylor told him. "In a lot of ways, pokemon are just like people, but stronger. I don't think you'll understand this until you get older, but that's the most important thing to understand about pokemon—they're just like us. They get sad when sad things happen, and happy when they're treated well. And some times they get mad and they act without thinking. They're just like us. I don't think I can explain it to you, kiddo, since you're still so young… but the nature of people and pokemon is exactly the same. And that's a good thing—that's a real good thing. That's why pokemon can be your best friends in the whole wide world. They understand you and, if you make an effort, you'll understand them, too."

He leaned back in his chair, fiddling with his cup of coffee. "But—and I think this is what you're too young to understand, but I'll say it anyway and maybe when you're older it'll make sense—but there are some drawbacks to us being the same, humans and pokemon. That's the fact that, without meaning to, we hurt each other. Pokemon, people… There's a phrase for it—the hedgehog's dilemma."

"What's a hedgehog?"

"It's a spiny little made-up creature."

"What's a dilemma?"

"It's a really serious problem," said Taylor. "The hedgehog's dilemma is that it's covered in spines. It wants to get close to other hedgehogs so that it can keep warm. But, because it's covered in spines, every movement it makes can potentially hurt the other hedgehogs. So, even with the best intentions, the hedgehogs still cause each other pain. It's the same with people and it's the same with pokemon."

"But I'm not covered in spines," said Arden, looking up at his father.

Taylor smiled at his little son. "It's a metaphor," he said.

"What's a metaphor?"

"It's something that means something other than what it means."

Arden blinked. "That's confusing," he said.

"Yeah, it is," said Taylor. He took another drink of his coffee. "So, why are you up so early this morning?"

"I wanted to go outside," said Arden, swinging his feet back and forth underneath the table.

"Oh yeah?" asked Taylor. "What did you want to go outside and do?"

Arden shrugged. "I dunno," he said.

"Children that don't tell the truth get eaten by golducks, you know."

The little boy's eyes widened. "I don't want to be eaten by golducks," he said. "I just wanted to go outside and play with some pokemon."

"What pokemon?" asked Taylor. "Your mother's pokemon?"

Arden bit his lower lip and nodded.

"Come on now, you know you can't go play with them when your mom's not around," he said. "You'll get hurt that way."

"I know," said Arden. "But I wanna be a trainer, and I wanna be around pokemon."

"You're too young to be around big, strong pokemon like your mom keeps out back," Taylor said. "You could get hurt, and we'd all be so sad if anything ever happened to you."

"I know," mumbled Arden quietly.

"If you really want to train a pokemon so badly," said Taylor. "You be a good boy while I'm gone, and I'll bring you home a caterpie."

"No," said Arden. "I don't want a caterpie. They're stupid."

"I could get you a sentret, then," Taylor said. "Would you like that? A cute little sentret?"

"No," said Arden. "I don't like sentret. That's a baby pokemon."

"Well, what sort of pokemon do you want to train?" asked Taylor.

"I want a charizard!" said Arden, throwing his arms out wide and flapping them like wings. "They breathe fire!"

Taylor chuckled. "Well, that's too bad, then," he said. "I can't get you one of those. Only Professor Oak in Pallet town has access to pokemon like that. They're very rare, kiddo. Oak won't give them to anyone younger than ten-years-old, either. But I could get you a pokemon to train until then—something cute and harmless."

Arden shook his head. "I don't want something cute," he said. "I want to have a tough pokemon."

"No pokemon starts out tough, Arden," his father said. "That's part of the joy of raising a pokemon—growing along with it."

"Charizard starts out tough."

"Charizard starts out as charmander."

"Then I want a charmander."

"You can't get one of those until you're ten," said Taylor. "Even then, you'd have to go all the way to Kanto."

"I don't care," said Arden stubbornly. "That's what I want."

"You'll have to wait a long time for that…"

"I don't care," said Arden.

Taylor smiled. "Well, then, so long as you don't mess around with your mom's pokemon while she's not around, I guess that's up to you, kiddo," he said. He finished the last of his coffee and set the empty cub down on the table. "Say, I've got some time before I need to go—want to learn how to crack a whip?"

Arden grinned and nodded eagerly as Taylor stood up. The father picked his son up and lifted him onto his shoulders. "Alright," he said. "But make sure you don't crack it at your brother's face, alright? You can put out someone's eye that way."


	75. Epilogue

Arden sighed contentedly as he looked out at Johto stretched beneath him. Gimpy merely yawned and rubbed his nose with the back of one hand, unimpressed by the view from the top of Mt. Silver. Arden smacked him on the head. "Hey," he said sharply. "Be more reverent!"

"Blaaas," mumbled Gimpy, flattening his ears.

Arden turned to Dixie who was yawning into one hand. "You, too!"

"I'm sorry," said Dixie, rubbing his eyes. "It's really early for mountain climbing. Why did we have to come up here so suddenly, anyway?"

"Because, this is somewhere I always wanted to go," said Arden, putting his hands on his hips. "And because today is the five year anniversary of when I got my first pokemon."

"Blastoise?"

"Yeah you," said Arden flatly. "Who else?"

"I see," said Dixie, crossing his arms. "Has it really been so long as that since you became a trainer…? Well that is something to celebrate, isn't it?"

Arden took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air and pointed. "You see that yellow patch way off over there?" he asked. "That's Ecruteak. We should go there and see the Kimono Girls dance."

"You say that every time we're in Johto…"

"I like them," said Arden. "My dad used to take Gaius and me there to see them every time he came home."

"He was gone a lot, right?"

Arden nodded. "He was a Pokemon Ranger," he said. "He died almost five years ago, now, too…"

"I'm sorry," said Dixie. "I didn't mean to make you sad. You were so cheerful…"

"No, it's alright," said Arden quickly. "I'm not sad—I was just remembering."

"Since we're in Johto," said Dixie, putting his hand to his chin. "I think we should go see Felicia."

Arden groaned. "You know I don't get on well with her," he said.

"But she's such a nice girl," said Dixie.

"You only think so because she's got a crush on you," Arden said, crossing his arms. "You could at least try to tell her you don't swing that way or something."

Dixie smiled. "But then I'd be afraid she'd treat me as meanly as she treats you," he said. "I've been punched out by one of her pokemon before. It hurts."

"Anyway," said Arden. "It's not like I know where to find her, even if I wanted to."

"Why do you have a pokegear if you never use it…?"

"I never use it because I'm usually in Kanto, anyway, and I don't get any reception in Kanto."

"You could call her now," said Dixie.

"I don't want to."

"Blaas," said Gimpy.

"Stop dog-piling on me," said Arden. "This is dog-piling! Why am I getting complained at from every side?"

"Fine, fine," said Dixie, rising up his hands. "I'll drop it."

"Good," said Arden. He looked to Gimpy. "And you?"

"Blast."

"Good."

Dixie glanced down at the scenery. "It is very beautiful up here," he said. He patted his jacket and frowned. "Urgh. I seem to have forgotten my camera."

"It's alright," said Arden. "We'll come back some time and you can take a picture then."

Dixie sighed and leaned back. "It's a shame, though," he said. "This is such a hard spot to get to—especially with this leg of mine."

"Blast-oise," agreed Gimpy.

"I forget that about you guys," said Arden, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry—I should've thought first."

"No, no—don't worry about it. It's not that bad. Besides, it's beautiful up here."

"Mm." Arden nodded. "By the way, I called Gaius when we got into Johto and told him we were headed up here. He said he'd come up and meet us, but I'm not sure when…"

"Oh, is that right?" asked Dixie, fishing into his pocket. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and opened it.

Arden glanced sideways at him. "You forgot the camera, but remembered your cigarettes?" he said.

"Hey, I'd quit if I could, but I just can't," Dixie said with a shrug. Clenching his unlit cigarette in his teeth, he dug around in his coat pockets for his lighter. Arden stared at him flatly.

"And here you are, blaming your leg for why you had a hard time climbing the mountain," he said. "It's that dirty habit of yours—your lungs are half tar by now, I'm sure."

"I've only been smoking for about six years," Dixie said. "That's no where near long enough to turn my lungs to tar."

There were footsteps on the trail behind them, and Gaius' deep voice rang out, "Ho there!"

"Gaius!" said Arden happily. "Where's Quenelle?"

"Eh, Quen's somewhere back along the path. He should be up in a minute," Gaius said, pulling the still unlit cigarette from Dixie's mouth. "That's a very, very disgusting habit, you know."

Dixie smiled weakly. "Well," he said. "I suppose it is, yes…"

"Give him his cigarette back," said Stanislaus, coming up the path behind Gaius. "It's not your lungs, after all."

"All men's lungs are my concern, babe," said Gaius. Stanislaus rolled his eye and stuck his hands in his jacket pockets. The blue armband sewn onto his leather jacket marked him as part of Gaius' gang. "It's an act of charity, making people quit smoking."

Stanislaus plucked the cigarette out of Gaius' large fingers and handed it back to Dixie. "Here," he said.

"Thanks," said Dixie. "But I guess I won't light this. I've been meaning to quit any way."

"That's a good choice," said Gaius. He turned and looked down the path. "Ah, here comes Quen! What took you, bud?"

"Taur-aur-aur-auros!" said the tauros as he came up the path. On his back, Felicia was riding sidesaddle, holding a large picnic basket.

"Dixie!" said Felicia, leaping off Quenelle's back. She shoved the picnic basket into Stanislaus' arms and ran to Dixie, throwing her arms around his middle. "I haven't seen you in _forever_!"

Arden looked at Gaius flatly. "You brought _her _along?"

"She's family, Arden," said Gaius. "Of course she should come!"

"Besides that," said Felicia, still hugging Dixie tightly. "I made sandwiches for every one. But I guess Gimpy gets yours since you're so ungrateful."

The blastoise's ears perked up. "Blast."

"Hey, that's not fair," said Arden. "I want a sandwich."

"Too bad—guess you should've been nicer," said Felicia.

"Dixie," said Arden. "Aren't you going to stand up for me?"

Dixie smiled. "I was actually hoping to stay out of it," he said.

Stanislaus opened the basket and peaked inside. "Urgh, liver?" he said, scrunching up his nose. Gaius pulled back the strap of Stanislaus' eye patch.

"Hey," he said. "I like liver sandwiches. They're delicious."

"Yeah, well if you're going to eat that, keep your mouth away from me for the rest of the week," Stanislaus said. "There are other sorts of sandwich in here, right?"

"Of course," said Felicia. "I mean, the only person I've ever met who actually likes liver is Gaius. I don't know how he can possibly stand it. And don't you know, Gaius, that if you eat too much of that you're going to end up with gout?"

"But it's so good!" said Gaius, laughing.

"Did you make peanut butter and jelly?" Dixie asked.

"Of course!" said Felicia. "Strawberry jelly and peach jelly."

Arden stuck out his tongue. "Who eats peach jelly with peanut butter?" he asked.

Felicia ignored him. "Well," she said. "Let's lay down the blanket and we can eat."

Stanislaus pulled a large, thin blanket from the blanket and, together, they found a good place and laid it out on the ground. With Johto spread wide beneath them, they ate lunch. Gimpy and Quenelle sat beside their trainers, just off of the blanket, having a conversation between themselves while the humans laughed and chatted.

"It's so beautiful up here!" said Felicia, her arm locked around one of Dixie's.

Across from her on the blanket Stanislaus and Gaius sat close together. Gaius took a bit of his liver sandwich and, grabbing Stanislaus by the shoulders, pulled the other man into a kiss. Stanislaus pushed him away, coughing and sputtering. "Urgh! Liver!" he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as Gaius laughed. Stanislaus punched him in the jaw. "That was disgusting! Stop laughing! Urgh, the taste is in my mouth now!"

Dixie chuckled softly and Arden looked at him. "It doesn't bother you?" he asked quietly. "Seeing them together?"

Dixie shook his head. "No," said Dixie. "All I want is for the people I care about to be happy. To be very honest, he never looked half so happy when we were together. So I'm glad, seeing him happy, because that's all I want. If the people who matter to me are happy, what right do I have to complain or lament that I'm not the cause?"

"Um, Arden," said Felicia, leaning forward and looking at her cousin.

"Yeah?" asked Arden unenthusiastically.

"I wanted to make amends for Prometheus," she said, pulling off the girlish plush backpack she was wearing. "That was a cheap trick, trading you a rare pokemon for one that was too afraid to battle."

"Yeah, it was," agreed Arden.

"So, I got you something," she said, opening the backpack and reaching inside. She pulled out a pure white pokeball which she held out to him. "I'm sorry that it's so long after the fact, but it took me a while to realize just how cruel it was of me, and then it took me a while longer to track this down."

"What's this?" he asked without taking it.

"It's a charmander," she said. "A charmander that's colored differently from other charmander—just like Icarus is colored differently from other ninetails. It's only fair, I thought."

Arden blinked. "Felicia," he said. "I can't take that."

Felicia scowled and said, "Like hell you can't. Do you know what kind of a pain in the ass it was to get this? You're damn-well going to take it or else I'm going to use this pokeball to beat your skull in."

Arden raised his eyebrows and looked sideways at Dixie. "I think you should take it," Dixie offered up helpfully. Arden frowned and took the pokeball.

"Thank you, Felicia," mumbled Arden.

"What's that? A thank you?" said Felicia. "Oh my, I _must _be dreaming! But, Arden—why, pray tell, couldn't you say that loud enough for _everyone _to hear it?"

"Why do you insist on making it hard for me to like you?" asked Arden flatly.

"Her name's Artemis, by the way," said Felicia, gesturing to the pokeball. "Because you shouldn't be allowed to name pokemon, ever. You give them weird names. I mean, you pretty much just call them what they are, and that's a little strange."

"And Artemis isn't a strange name to you?" said Arden.

"Oh, I said I was sorry!" laughed Gaius, wrapping his arms around Stanislaus as the other man tried to push him away. "Let's kiss and make up!"

"Get your liver-mouth away from me!" said Stanislaus, breaking into laughter as well.

Felicia laid her head on Dixie's shoulder and sighed contentedly. A soft breeze rustled by them, traveling down the mountain side. Arden pulled his knees to his chest and looked down at the greenery so far below them. Far distant, he could see the root tops of Goldenrod—the department stores and radio tower and game corner all stretching upwards toward the sky. He could see, somewhere beyond that, the stoic light tower of Olivine town, where his cousin had swore never to return and still hadn't—and he thought, in a way, that light tower was like her. Just like Felicia, it was casting its light into the darkness, always fearing disaster. Somewhere north of that, he could see the beautiful and ancient towers of Ecruteak, surrounded with a mane of golden-leafed trees, as though the entire city were suspended in autumn.

Arden turned his face the other way, and there he could see Kanto, green and full of meadows, just visible. He could see the little settlement of Pallet town—a mere blemish among the scenery from where he sat now—where, five years before, he had set his life in motion. South of it the ocean spread its arms wide, and he could see Cinnabar island floating serenely in it. He couldn't see the old mansion on the side of the volcano, but his mind went first to it when he thought of Cinnabar. He thought, then, of that old shell of a building where, five years before, everyone had been at each others throats and everything had looked so bleak. There, in that ruined place which was as if it had been built to see only tragedy, he had come to understand the true nature of love—a nature which was so seldom spoken of. Before that, he had always thought that love was some distant feeling, which was gooey and sweet and possessed of no power of its own. After that he knew that love was the reason you kill or die for those around you—or the reason you sacrifice your own desire to revenge some wrong, so to make someone you love happy. That was the place, Arden thought to himself, that they had all learned to break from their paths toward destruction.

Arden wrapped his hand around Dixie's and turned toward him. "I want to go travel," he said.

"Travel where?" Dixie asked.

"I don't know," said Arden. "The world, I guess. I want to see all of it. I want to go to every place I've ever heard of and see all the towns there and meet the people and catch the pokemon—Hoenn, and Sinnoh, and… America, where ever that is. I want to go the places I've never heard of, too. All of it. The whole world. You, and me, and our pokemon traveling across this whole world. That's what I want."

Dixie smiled. "That sounds wonderful," he said.

"Hey," said Gaius, standing up. "I want to get every one together for a picture in front of this glorious scenery!"

"Okay!" said Felicia.

Gaius reached into one of the pockets of his coat. "Let's see… I definitely had a camera, somewhere around here—"

"Breast pocket, love," said Stanislaus.

"Oh, right," said Gaius. He pulled out the little camera and turned it on. "Let's look here… Ah—over there. Everyone get close over there. Oy, Gimp—do you mind takin' this for me?"

"Blast," said Gimpy, taking the camera in his stubby hands.

They stood all in a line, with Johto and the ocean at their backs—Felicia clinging to Dixie's arm, Dixie holding Arden's hand, Arden standing beside Gaius, Gaius hugging Stanislaus close. They were smiling and laughing as Gimpy snapped the picture and then, there it was—a moment of absolute happiness forever preserved in the form of a picture. And in that moment, despite everything, they were all truly happy. In that moment, they were hedgehogs who had learned to cut their spines down—hedgehogs whose spines would grow back and, though they knew that, because of that, some day they'd hurt each other again, for that moment they were able to huddle together. For that moment they were warm.

Happy.

_**A/N:**__ And there we reach the end of our tale. Seventy-five chapters, and over one hundred thousand words—thank you for sticking with me to the very end. There are no words for how happy I am to be able to tell you this story. Thank you for reading. You are all beautiful—the most beautiful people in the whole world._

_As always, criticism and general thoughts are muchly appreciated, though I'm happy to have just had the pleasure of you all reading this from end to end. If you're confused about any part of it, or have any sort of question about something not explicitly stated, feel free to leave your question in a review (signed or with your e-mail) or PM me with it, or use any of the other ways you can utilize this to ask me, because I will certainly answer._

_If you want to see a picture of the five of them at the end here, it is up on my DA account, and the image is in a link on my profile, as before._

_Once again, thank you deeply for reading. I love everyone one of you (even those of you that leave homophobic comments because, even though I vehemently disagree with you, I figure I must be doing something right if you kept on reading despite your squicks and qualms with the sorts of love presented in the story). You guys have brightened every one of my days by reading, and have inspired me to finish my original novel. Thank you all._


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